OUA ANNOUNCES 2012-13 WOMEN'S HOCKEY MAJOR AWARDS AND ALL-STARS
The Guelph Gryphons finished second place in the regular season standings, and boast three out of the four major award winners on their roster.
Amanda Parkins of the Guelph Gryphons is this year’s OUA player of the year, presented by Harrow Sports Canada. The rookie centre took the league by storm in her first season, winning the scoring race with a total of 43 points and a league high of 19 goals, five more than the next closest rookie performer. The Kitchener, Ont. native sits third in CIS scoring. Parkins posted 14 multipoint performances this season, including a hat trick against Brock in November. She appeared in every game for the Gryphons and helped her team to a 21-3-2 regular season record. Parkins has also been named a first team all-star and owns a spot on the OUA all-rookie team.
Fellow Guelph rookie Christine Grant has earned OUA women’s hockey rookie of the year honours. A product of Mississauga, Ont., Grant was a major contributor in her rookie season, appearing in all 26 games and earning major minutes on the Gryphons’ frontline. Grant finished fourth in OUA scoring, tallying 32 points on 14 goals and 18 assists. The disciplined winger kept her penalties to a minimum, only spending eight minutes in the box.
In her fifth year as bench boss for the Gryphons, this year’s OUA coach of the year is Rachel Flanagan. A graduate of the Guelph Gryphons hockey program, Flanagan is well versed in the commitment it takes to be part of an elite program and this season she was able to inspire her team to a second place finish, thanks in part to a 14-game regular season win streak. The Gryphons haven’t suffered a loss since November. The team has improved each season with Flanagan at the helm, and this year they were a single point shy of first place. In addition to coaching two major award winners and three all-stars this season, Flanagan ran a disciplined squad, as not a single Gryphon athlete was ranked in the top 20 for penalties.
Last year, Jill Morillo (Whitby, Ont.) became the first UOIT student-athlete in any sport to receive a CIS major award, and this year she’ll have the opportunity to repeat as she’s once again the 2012-13 OUA nominee for the Marion Hillard award. The award is given to a student-athlete for outstanding achievement in hockey, academics, and community involvement and Morillo continued to embody those qualities this season. The fourth-year captain led the UOIT Ridgebacks in scoring with 18 points, split equally between helpers and goals. Since joining the team in 2009, Morillo has left her mark on the Ridgebacks hockey program and is the all-time leader in nearly every offensive statistical category. This season, the Morillo helped the Ridgebacks qualify for the OUA playoffs for the first since the program’s inception in 2007. Off the ice, Morillo is in her fourth-year of UOIT’s demanding nuclear engineering program. She is involved in the faculty’s engineering society and is a member of the Canadian Nuclear Society, sharing the company of leaders in her field. Morillo still finds time to be active in her community, participating in skills clinics and practices with local youth hockey associations and mentoring first-year teammates. Additionally Morillo received the James-Baun award, presented to a UOIT student-athlete who shows commitment, academic responsibility, and perseverance.
Joining Amanda Parkins on the OUA first team all-star squad is Queen’s veteran Morgan McHaffie. The OUA MVP from a year ago finished third in league scoring, tallying 33 points on 12 goals and 21 assists. The goal hungry centre from Guelph, Ont. also led the OUA in penalty minutes (56). McHaffie has spent the last two seasons on the OUA first team, after being named to the second team in 2010-11 and an all-rookie in 2009-10.
Windsor Lancer forward Alyssa Baldin has also been named an OUA first team all-star. The fifth-year NCAA transfer from Wayne State University finished fifth in league scoring with 28 points and second in goals with 15. The Mississauga, Ont. native net seven of her goals on the power play, tying her for the league lead.
Rounding out the OUA first team all-star squad are defencemen Fiona Lester of the Laurier Golden Hawks and Western’s Katelyn Gosling and Kelly Campbell.
A native of Peterbough, Ont., Lester finished third in league scoring among blueliners, contributing 19 points on seven goals and 12 assists for the first place Hawks. This is the fourth-years’ second consecutive OUA first team honour.
Second-year Mustang Katelyn Gosling (London, Ont.) won the scoring race among defenders, posting an impressive 26 points this season. Gosling finished second in team scoring and was an integral part of Western’s powerplay unit, netting four advantage goals this season. This is her second league honour after being named to the 2011-12 all-rookie squad.
Kelly Campbell appeared in 21 games for the fourth-place Mustangs, and led all goalies with a .942 save percentage, good enough for third in the CIS. The second-year net minder out of St. Thomas, Ont. endured 710 shots this season, only allowing 41 goals. Campbell led all OUA goalies in wins (12) and also recorded three shutouts.
The Laurier Golden Hawks have two players on this year’s second-team all-star squad including forward Laura Brooker (Fergus, Ont.) and defenceman Candice Styles (Orangeville, Ont.).
Brooker scored a team leading 14 goals and added 10 assists in 26 regular season contests. Three of her scores came on the Hawks powerplay. This season, the third-year left winger became only the fourth Golden Hawk in history to reach the 50 goal career mark. Brooker returns to the OUA all-star ranks after a one year hiatus, in 2010-11 she was named to the second team and earned rookie of the year status in her first season.
Styles finished 2012-13 fifth in scoring among OUA blueliners with 16 points (3G, 13A). The 13 assists marks a career high for the fourth-year Arts student from Orangeville, Ont.
Guelph’s Jessica Pinkerton (Oshawa, Ont.) and Katie Duncan (Kitchener, Ont.) of the Queen’s Gaels round out the skaters on the OUA second team all-star unit. A second-year right winger, Pinkerton finished second in league scoring with 37 points. Her 11 goal, 26 assist performance this season was good enough for fifth in CIS scoring and her generous 26 helpers rank her tops in OUA and third in CIS. This is Pinkerton’s second league honour after being named to the all-rookie team a year ago.
Queen’s captain Katie Duncan is no stranger to the OUA second team after being named to it in 2011-12. The fifth-year veteran patrolled the blue line for the third place Gaels, scoring five goals and adding 17 helpers. Her 22 points ranked her third in team scoring and second in scoring among OUA defencemen.
Waterloo goaltender Rebecca Bouwhuis followed up on her sensational rookie campaign by being named to the 2012-13 OUA second team. The Orillia, Ont. native logged the third most minutes between the pipes, posted a .928 save percentage and turned away 616 shots in her sophomore year. The 2011-12 rookie of the year, first team all-star and all-rookie tender backstopped the eighth place Warriors to a 9-14-3 record.
In addition to Guelph’s Parkins and Grant, four OUA schools are represented on this year’s OUA all-rookie team.
Western’s Kryshanda Green (Caledon, Ont.) completes the forward line. Green was tops among Western rookies with 20 points (9G, 11A) and fourth in OUA rookie scoring. The social sciences student scored two shorthanded goals for the ‘Stangs and racked up 44 penalty minutes.
Windsor’s Natalie Barrette and Alisha Sealey of the Queen’s Gaels crack the all-rookie lineup on defence. A disciplined competitor, Sealey appeared in all 26 games for the Gaels and limited herself to six penalty minutes. The Elora, Ont. native scored 14 points in her rookie campaign, and found the net twice, once on the powerplay and once shorthanded.
A native of Belle River, Ont., Barrette finished in the top 20 scoring among OUA blueliners and third among rookie defenders.
UOIT goaltender Cassie Charette completes the OUA all-rookie squad. The Ottawa, Ont. native becomes just the second Ridgeback to receive an OUA women’s hockey honour. She appeared in 14 games for UOIT, splitting time with senior Jessica Larabie. On top of recording a .921 save percentage, Charette came up with a number of impressive saves in important games that helped the Ridgebacks reach the playoffs.
2012-13 OUA WOMEN’S HOCKEY MAJOR AWARD WINNERS
Player of the Year: Amanda Parkins – Guelph
Rookie of the Year: Christine Grant – Guelph
Marion Hillard Award: Jill Morillo – UOIT
Coach of the Year: Rachel Flanagan – Guelph
FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS
Forwards
Amanda Parkins – Guelph
Morgan McHaffie – Queen’s
Alyssa Baldin – Windsor
Defencemen
Katelyn Gosling – Western
Fiona Lester – Laurier
Goaltender
Kelly Campbell – Western
SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS
Forwards
Jessica Pinkerton – Guelph
Laura Brooker – Laurier
Christine Grant – Guelph
Defencemen
Katie Duncan – Queen’s
Candice Styles – Laurier
Goaltender
Rebecca Bouwhuis – Waterloo
ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Forwards
Amanda Parkins – Guelph
Christine Grant – Guelph
Kryshanda Green – Western
Defencemen
Alisha Sealey – Queen’s
Natalie Barrette – Windsor
Goaltender
Cassie Charette – UOIT