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University of New Hampshire Athletics
'Cats Announce Seven Annual Team Awards
4/14/2021 5:30:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey
DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire women's ice hockey program, led by seventh-year head coach Hilary Witt, announced the recipients of the seven annual team awards on Wednesday.
2020-21 UNH Women's Ice Hockey Team Awards
Karyn L. Bye Most Valuable Player Award – Ava Boutilier
Colleen Coyne Best Defensive Player Award – Maddie Truax and Emily Rickwood
Sue Merz 7th Player Award – Charli Kettyle
Tricia Dunn Most Improved Player Award – Lindsey Dumond
Rookie of the Year Award – Nicole Kelly
Blue Line Club Award – Lauren Martin
Dr. Allison Edgar Academic Award – Nikki Harnett
Redshirt junior goaltender and captain Ava Boutilier (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) was honored with the Karyn L. Bye Most Valuable Player Award. She started all 20 games in which she played, and that included each of the last 17 games of the season.
Boutilier ranked fifth in the nation in saves (532) and sixth in minutes played (1145:12). She had a 7-12-1 overall record with a 2.62 GAA, .914 save percentage and five shutouts. Boutilier was the first UNH goalie in more than a decade to record three consecutive shutouts -- Merrimack College (twice) and Providence College -- and her shutout streak totaled 183 minutes, 44 seconds.
Boutilier also backboned UNH out of the first round of the Hockey East playoffs with a 31-save shutout effort of College of the Holy Cross. Her other highlights included a personal high of 22 saves in a period in the final stanza at Northeastern University on Jan. 8; she finished that game with a season-high 39 saves.
In the 2020-21 season, Boutilier was honored as the league's Player of the Week once and Defensive Player of the Week twice.
Senior assistant captain Maddie Truax (Gardner, Mass.) and junior Emily Rickwood (Brantford, Ontario) are co-recipients of the Colleen Coyne Best Defensive Player Award.
Truax ranked second on the squad and third in Hockey East with 49 blocks (2.23 per game). She was credited with six blocks in the first round matchup vs. Holy Cross; the defenseman also blocked six shots in the Jan. 8 game at Northeastern. Truax recorded a block in each of the last 12 games of the season and in 17 of 22 games overall.
At the other end of the ice, Truax recorded three assists for three points.
Rickwood led the team and Hockey East with 59 blocks (2.68 per game). She blocked seven shots in the league quarterfinals at Northeastern and also tallied seven blocks in the first matchup of the season against the University of Vermont; that was the highest total by a Wildcat this season. Rickwood recorded at least one block in 20 of 22 games and had 3+ blocks nine times.
Rickwood led all UNH blueliners in assists (eight) and she scored one goal to tie for the lead amongst defensemen in points (nine). She matched her career high of two assists in wins against Boston University and Merrimack.
Freshman Charli Kettyle (Perth, Ontario) was feted with the Sue Merz 7th Player Award, which recognizes a player who performs above and beyond expectations. Kettyle, who skated in 21 of 22 games, tied with Rickwood as the top point-producing defenseman with nine points. She led the D with three goals and also had six assists. Kettyle also ranked fourth in blocks (24).
Kettyle recorded a personal-best two points against Holy Cross and Merrimack; she tallied a goal and an assist in both games.
Junior Lindsey Dumond (Hampton, N.H.) was bestowed the Tricia Dunn Most Improved Player Award. The junior forward finished the season with two goals and an assist for three points; two of those three points came in the last eight games. She also saw increased time in the faceoff circle the last eight games of the season; Dumond took 70 of her 76 faceoffs in that span.
Dumond received the 2021 Hockey East Best Defensive Forward Award, thus becoming the first Wildcat to earn that accolade. In her previous two years, Dumond tallied two goals and an assist for three points in 67 games.
Freshman Nicole Kelly (Brantford, Ontario) is the recipient of the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award. The forward led all Wildcats in both assists (nine) and points (14), and her five goals tied for second; she also recorded a team-high 79 shots. Kelly ranked No. 15 in the nation in freshman points per game (0.64).
Kelly recorded a point in 11 of 22 games with three multiple-point efforts. She scored a high of two goals vs. Holy Cross in the regular season and matched that against the Crusaders in the Hockey East first round matchup. Her other highlights included a two-assist game against Boston University.
Kelly was voted to the Hockey East Por Ambitions All-Rookie Team, and during the season she was honored as the Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Month for November/December and also received one Rookie of the Week award.
Junior assistant captain Lauren Martin (Cambridge, Ontario) was presented the Blue Line Club Award, which is given to a player who embodies what it means to be a Wildcat by exhibiting a positive culture in the locker room, on the ice, in youth clinics and in the community.
On the ice, Martin recorded five goals and six assists for 11 points in 20 games; with those numbers, she was second in points, tied for second in goals and tied for third in assists. Martin matched her career high of two assists in a regular-season game vs. Holy Cross and also had multiple points with a goal and an assist at Merrimack.
Sophomore goalie Nikki Harnett (Plymouth, Minn.) earned the Dr. Allison Edgar Academic Award for having the highest cumulative GPA on the team. Harnett played in three games – with two starts – between the pipes. She went 0-2-0 with a 2.49 GAA and .926 save percentage. Harnett stopped 26 of 28 shots in a 2-1 loss to Boston University and had a season-high 31-save effort in a 2-1 loss to Maine; she made 16 saves in the second period of that game vs. Maine.
This past February, Harnett was named a committee member to the College Hockey for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
New Hampshire finished the 2020-21 season with a 7-14-1 overall record that included 6-13-1 in Hockey East. The Wildcats were 4-3 victors against then-No. 8 Boston University (Dec. 5), upended then-No. 10 Providence by a 1-0 score (Feb. 5), and skated to a 2-2 tie vs. then-No. 3 Northeastern (Jan. 9).
2020-21 UNH Women's Ice Hockey Team Awards
Karyn L. Bye Most Valuable Player Award – Ava Boutilier
Colleen Coyne Best Defensive Player Award – Maddie Truax and Emily Rickwood
Sue Merz 7th Player Award – Charli Kettyle
Tricia Dunn Most Improved Player Award – Lindsey Dumond
Rookie of the Year Award – Nicole Kelly
Blue Line Club Award – Lauren Martin
Dr. Allison Edgar Academic Award – Nikki Harnett
Redshirt junior goaltender and captain Ava Boutilier (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) was honored with the Karyn L. Bye Most Valuable Player Award. She started all 20 games in which she played, and that included each of the last 17 games of the season.
Boutilier ranked fifth in the nation in saves (532) and sixth in minutes played (1145:12). She had a 7-12-1 overall record with a 2.62 GAA, .914 save percentage and five shutouts. Boutilier was the first UNH goalie in more than a decade to record three consecutive shutouts -- Merrimack College (twice) and Providence College -- and her shutout streak totaled 183 minutes, 44 seconds.
Boutilier also backboned UNH out of the first round of the Hockey East playoffs with a 31-save shutout effort of College of the Holy Cross. Her other highlights included a personal high of 22 saves in a period in the final stanza at Northeastern University on Jan. 8; she finished that game with a season-high 39 saves.
In the 2020-21 season, Boutilier was honored as the league's Player of the Week once and Defensive Player of the Week twice.
Senior assistant captain Maddie Truax (Gardner, Mass.) and junior Emily Rickwood (Brantford, Ontario) are co-recipients of the Colleen Coyne Best Defensive Player Award.
Truax ranked second on the squad and third in Hockey East with 49 blocks (2.23 per game). She was credited with six blocks in the first round matchup vs. Holy Cross; the defenseman also blocked six shots in the Jan. 8 game at Northeastern. Truax recorded a block in each of the last 12 games of the season and in 17 of 22 games overall.
At the other end of the ice, Truax recorded three assists for three points.
Rickwood led the team and Hockey East with 59 blocks (2.68 per game). She blocked seven shots in the league quarterfinals at Northeastern and also tallied seven blocks in the first matchup of the season against the University of Vermont; that was the highest total by a Wildcat this season. Rickwood recorded at least one block in 20 of 22 games and had 3+ blocks nine times.
Rickwood led all UNH blueliners in assists (eight) and she scored one goal to tie for the lead amongst defensemen in points (nine). She matched her career high of two assists in wins against Boston University and Merrimack.
Freshman Charli Kettyle (Perth, Ontario) was feted with the Sue Merz 7th Player Award, which recognizes a player who performs above and beyond expectations. Kettyle, who skated in 21 of 22 games, tied with Rickwood as the top point-producing defenseman with nine points. She led the D with three goals and also had six assists. Kettyle also ranked fourth in blocks (24).
Kettyle recorded a personal-best two points against Holy Cross and Merrimack; she tallied a goal and an assist in both games.
Junior Lindsey Dumond (Hampton, N.H.) was bestowed the Tricia Dunn Most Improved Player Award. The junior forward finished the season with two goals and an assist for three points; two of those three points came in the last eight games. She also saw increased time in the faceoff circle the last eight games of the season; Dumond took 70 of her 76 faceoffs in that span.
Dumond received the 2021 Hockey East Best Defensive Forward Award, thus becoming the first Wildcat to earn that accolade. In her previous two years, Dumond tallied two goals and an assist for three points in 67 games.
Freshman Nicole Kelly (Brantford, Ontario) is the recipient of the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award. The forward led all Wildcats in both assists (nine) and points (14), and her five goals tied for second; she also recorded a team-high 79 shots. Kelly ranked No. 15 in the nation in freshman points per game (0.64).
Kelly recorded a point in 11 of 22 games with three multiple-point efforts. She scored a high of two goals vs. Holy Cross in the regular season and matched that against the Crusaders in the Hockey East first round matchup. Her other highlights included a two-assist game against Boston University.
Kelly was voted to the Hockey East Por Ambitions All-Rookie Team, and during the season she was honored as the Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Month for November/December and also received one Rookie of the Week award.
Junior assistant captain Lauren Martin (Cambridge, Ontario) was presented the Blue Line Club Award, which is given to a player who embodies what it means to be a Wildcat by exhibiting a positive culture in the locker room, on the ice, in youth clinics and in the community.
On the ice, Martin recorded five goals and six assists for 11 points in 20 games; with those numbers, she was second in points, tied for second in goals and tied for third in assists. Martin matched her career high of two assists in a regular-season game vs. Holy Cross and also had multiple points with a goal and an assist at Merrimack.
Sophomore goalie Nikki Harnett (Plymouth, Minn.) earned the Dr. Allison Edgar Academic Award for having the highest cumulative GPA on the team. Harnett played in three games – with two starts – between the pipes. She went 0-2-0 with a 2.49 GAA and .926 save percentage. Harnett stopped 26 of 28 shots in a 2-1 loss to Boston University and had a season-high 31-save effort in a 2-1 loss to Maine; she made 16 saves in the second period of that game vs. Maine.
This past February, Harnett was named a committee member to the College Hockey for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
New Hampshire finished the 2020-21 season with a 7-14-1 overall record that included 6-13-1 in Hockey East. The Wildcats were 4-3 victors against then-No. 8 Boston University (Dec. 5), upended then-No. 10 Providence by a 1-0 score (Feb. 5), and skated to a 2-2 tie vs. then-No. 3 Northeastern (Jan. 9).
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