Lucas Punkari
The awards continue to pour in for the Rainy River Community College Voyageurs’ hockey team.
Four members of the 2011 ACHA Division II national champion squad received All-American honours last weekend, surpassing last year’s total when forward Stevie-Lee Langford was the lone player to receive the accolade.
“We’re just really excited to have a number of players earn these awards,” Voyageurs’ head coach Evan Amdahl said.
“It says a lot for what we’re doing here as a program and it’s good to have that recognition as we go forward,” he enthused.
Sophomore forward Brenley Anderson, of Rainy River, took home the Zoe Harris Award, given to the top player in the Division II ranks, after she led the entire U.S. in scoring with 70 points in just 21 games.
“She’s just an extremely hard worker and she showed that during the summer months in preparing for this season,” Amdahl noted.
“She wanted to prove to herself that she was capable of playing at a much higher level than last year, which she did quite easily, and we’re going to miss her a lot as she heads to the University of Manitoba next season,” he added.
Jessie Baker, a freshman forward from Emo who was second to Anderson in scoring this season with 58 points, earned second-team All-American honours to go along with being named tournament MVP at last month’s national championship in Kalamazoo, Mich.
“She’s another player who came into this year knowing that she had to work a little bit in order to succeed,” Amdahl remarked.
“We focused on improving her foot work during the season and she busted her butt to get to that next level.
“Hopefully, next year at Wisconsin-Superior, she’ll make the team there and continue to play with an NCAA program,” he said.
Rounding out the list of honourees were RRCC defenceman Jenna Brady and goalie Katelynn Stearns, who both received honourable mentions.
Stearns, a native of Fort Frances, was a perfect 11-0 in her sophomore campaign with the Voyageurs, sporting a 1.34 goals against average.
“Personally, I was kind of disappointed that she only received an honourable mention as I felt she was one of, if not the best goalie in the nation this season,” Amdahl lauded.
“She’ll be coming back next year for her final season, and I’m sure she’ll be putting in some hard work once again to bump herself to a first- or second-team All-American,” he predicted.
Brady, a freshman from Crosby, N.D., notched 15 points on the season for the Voyageurs.
