Danbury, CT — After completing one of the most dominant regular seasons in program history, the No. 1 nationally ranked Elmira College women’s ice hockey team will have more to celebrate entering the postseason as seven skaters were named to the ECAC West All-Conference team, headlined by a trio of major award winners.
Ashley Ryan ’15 was named the ECAC West Conference Player of the Year, making her just the fifth player in program history to win the conference’s top honor and the first Elmira player to win it since former AHCA All-American Kayla Coady ’09 in 2008-09. Ryan, who was also an ECAC West All-Conference First Team honoree, leads the nation with a career-high 56 points, which is tied for fourth-most in EC history, and also leads the country in assists with 39, second-most in program history. Her other 17 points have come in the form of goals, tying her career best.
She has played in all 25 games this season for the Purple and Gold, posting 17 multi-point games, including a program record six-assist performance against SUNY Cortland earlier this season. Her six assists ties the NCAA Division III women’s single-game record for most assists in a game.
If the season were to end today, Ryan would, without a doubt, go down in the history books as one of the all-time greats. In her four years, she has amassed 153 points on 59 goals and 94 assists, all of which rank third in the EC record books. In Elmira’s 14-year history, Ryan is just the ninth player in program history to reach the 100-point plateau and one of nine players to earn AHCA All-American honors.
Classmate Brooke Wilgosh ’15 took home her second consecutive ECAC West Defensive Player of the Year after leading Elmira’s defensive corps with 31 points, the fourth-most by any EC skater this season. Wilgosh, who was also tabbed as an ECAC West All-Conference First Team selection for a third time in her EC career, boasts a 1.24 points per game average, which not only leads all defensemen in the country, but also makes her the only defenseman to be ranked inside the national top-50 in points per game, a statistical category that includes every skater in NCAA Division III women’s ice hockey.
The Regina, Saskatchewan native has enjoyed her finest season to date, as her 31 points marks a career-high as do her 28 assists. Wilgosh sits on 93 career points, just seven shy of becoming the 11th player in program history to join the prestigious 100-point club, which would make her the only defenseman in program history to score 100 career points. She is one point away from tying fellow AHCA All-American Jamie Kivi ’10 for most career points by an EC defenseman.
Rounding out Elmira’s three major award winners is third-year head coach Dean Jackson ’03, who in addition to winning EC’s third NCAA National Championship in program history, has also guided the Soaring Eagles to the most regular season wins in program history this year with 23. Additional milestones for Jackson and his program this year include registering the program’s 300th win in program history, a victory that occurred on February 13th against William Smith College.
Jackson’s philosophy on offense this season has been the main ingredient in Elmira’s success, as the Soaring Eagles’ 127 goals are the second-most in the country and are the most scored by an EC team in the last six years. In his three years at the helm of the EC women’s ice hockey program, Jackson has accumulated a 69-12-2 record for a win percentage of .843, which is the second highest winning percentage in program history, second only to Elmira’s first head coach, Jamie Wood.
Joining Ryan and Wilgosh on the ECAC West All-Conference First Team was classmate Ashton Hogan ’15, who is receiving the second all-conference award of her collegiate career. With 30 goals on the season, Hogan not only leads the Soaring Eagles in scoring, but also the nation as she is the only 30-goal scorer in NCAA Division III women’s ice hockey. Her 30 goals mark just the third time in Elmira’s storied history that a player has tallied 30 or more goals, which puts Hogan in good company as the only other player to score 30 or more in a season was the late great Laura Hurd ’05, who did it in back-to-back seasons.
Hogan has produced her best season statistically in 2014-15, as she enters the postseason with 30 goals, 15 assists, and 45 points, all of which are career highs. Her 45 points are the second-most in the country, second only to teammate Ashley Ryan. Of Hogan’s national-leading 30 goals, nine have been scored on the power play, which is tied for third-most in the country; six of her goals were scored shorthanded, making her the most lethal shorthanded scorer in the nation, while her five game-winning goals are tied for third-most in the country.
In addition to Elmira’s three first team selections, the Soaring Eagles also placed a trio of skaters on the ECAC West All-Conference Second Team, including Cassidy Delainey ’15, Phoebe Piku ’16, and Kyle Nelson ’17.
Much like the rest of her classmates, Delainey is having the best season of her four-year EC career with a career-high 33 points on 21 goals, also a career-high, and 13 assists. Delainey has done most of her damage this season on the power play, as she boasts a national-leading 15 power-play goals, which are the most scored by any player, man or woman, in college hockey this season. Her 15 power-play scores also set a new NCAA Division III women’s ice hockey single-season record, one that was previously held by former Elmira standout Jenna McCall ’10.
Third-year defenseman Phoebe Piku picked up the first ECAC West All-Conference accolade of her collegiate career after finishing the regular season with 19 points on seven goals and 12 assists, all of which are career-highs. Piku’s junior year can most definitely be labeled as a breakout year as she more than tripled her career point total in one season, going from nine career points to 28 after the 2014-15 regular season. Her 0.76 points per game average is the sixth-highest percentage in the country for defensemen scoring.
Elmira’s last, but certainly not least, second-teamer was second-year netminder Kyle Nelson. After playing in just four games her rookie season, Nelson has played a much larger role in her sophomore campaign, making 15 appearances between the pipes for the Purple and Gold while posting 13-1-1 record. She has accumulated 309 saves this season with a .931 save percentage and a 1.56 goals against average. Nelson has also quietly taken over the national lead in win percentage at .900.
Finally, Elmira’s last all-conference winner this season was Rachel Grampp ’18 who was selected to the ECAC West All-Rookie Team. Grampp turned in a solid rookie season with eight points on three goals and five assists, with seven of her season’s eight points coming in ECAC West Conference games. In terms of rookie defensemen scoring, Grampp was the conference’s second-leading point scorer and finished tied for the conference lead for goals scored by rookie defensemen.
The ECAC West Conference Tournament begins this weekend as teams seeded three through six will square off in the quarterfinals. Elmira and second seeded Plattsburgh State received byes in the quarterfinals and will play their next games on Saturday, March 7th at the Murray Athletic Center Ice Arena, with Elmira facing the lowest remaining seed and Plattsburgh taking on the highest remaining seed. The Soaring Eagles will play in the first of two semifinal games on March 7th at 3:00 p.m. while Plattsburgh will play in the late game at 7:00 p.m.
