SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Freshman defenseman Hanna Rose (Chaumont, N.Y./Northwood School) of the Plattsburgh State women’s ice hockey team has been named the 2019 Northeast Women’s Hockey League (NEWHL) Rookie of the Year, as announced Thursday by the conference office. Freshman defenseman Sierra Benjamin (Palm Coast, Fla./Northwood School) and freshman forward Taylor Whitney (Livonia, Mich./Little Caesars) joined Rose on the 2019 NEWHL All-Rookie Team.
Rose is tied for 35th in NCAA Division III in points per game among defensemen (0.58) and is tied for 39th nationally in points per game among freshmen. Her seven goals are the most among defensemen in the NEWHL and are tied for the 14th-most among all skaters in the conference, and she is tied for 16th in the NEWHL in point scoring (15). Rose was a two-time D3hockey.com National Women’s Team of the Week selection and a two-time NEWHL Rookie of the Week honoree this season. She has posted five multi-point games this year, including a two-goal effort on Dec. 1 against Oswego State.
Benjamin ranks 18th in Division III in points per game among defensemen (0.72) and 19th nationally in points per game among freshmen. Among NEWHL leaders, she is tied for second in point scoring among freshmen (18), ranks third in point scoring among defensemen and is tied for fifth in assists (16). Benjamin was selected to the D3hockey.com National Women’s Team of the Week on Dec. 12 and earned NEWHL Rookie of the Week honors on Nov. 27. She has had four games with multiple points this year, including a contest against Trinity (Conn.) College on Dec. 7 in which she scored her first collegiate goal.
Whitney is 12th in Division III in points per game among freshmen (0.96) and ranks among NEWHL leaders in point scoring among freshmen (first, 23), point scoring (tied for seventh), goals (tied for seventh, 10) and assists (seventh, 13). She was a three-time NEWHL Rookie of the Week honoree this season, which included the league’s final honor of the year on Feb. 19. Whitney tied a program record in single-game assists with five against Trinity on Dec. 7, and she registered her first collegiate hat trick on Jan. 18 against SUNY Cortland. Whitney has four games this year in which she has registered multiple points.
Top-seeded Plattsburgh State (24-2-0, 16-0-0 NEWHL), which is riding a 13-game winning streak, looks to defend its NEWHL title on Saturday, March 2, as it hosts third-seeded Cortland in the NEWHL Tournament final at 3 p.m.
2019 NEWHL All-Rookie Team
D – Hanna Rose (Plattsburgh), Rookie of the Year
D – Sierra Benjamin (Plattsburgh)
F – Ellie Cleary (Potsdam)
F – Sara Cruise (Oswego)
F – Amanda Gaffney (Cortland)
F – Grace Schnorr (Cortland)
F – Taylor Whitney (Plattsburgh)
