Two Hamilton College athletes and the head coach Emily McNamara were recognized on Tuesday when the 2017 NESCAC Women’s Hockey All-Conference Team was announced.
Hamilton forward Katie Parkman ’17 (Stratford, Prince Edward Island/Brewster Academy [N.H.]) was selected by the conference’s coaches as the NESCAC Player of the Year and McNamara received her first NESCAC Coach of the Year award in her fifth season with the Continentals. Parkman is one of two Hamilton women’s hockey athletes who have been named conference player of the year. Stephanie Miguel ’11 was the first in 2009.
Goaltender Sam Walther ’18 (Gambrills, Md./The Gunnery [Conn.]) joined Parkman on the all-conference first team. Twelve hockey players received all-conference honors.
Parkman was on the all-conference second team in 2015. She is fourth in the NESCAC with 22 points, tied for sixth with nine goals, tied for fourth with 13 assists and tied for third with nine power-play points. Parkman posted 17 points (5 goals, 12 assists) in 16 conference games. Her assist and point totals were the most in any season during her career with the Continentals.
Walther made the second team last year and followed it up with an even better performance this season. She is fourth in the NESCAC and broke her own team records with a 1.27 goals against average and .952 save percentage. Walther posted a Division III-leading eight shutouts (another team record) in 23 starts. She was even more impressive in the conference play with a 1.18 goals against average, .956 save percentage and seven shutouts in 16 starts.
McNamara is the first NESCAC women’s hockey coach of the year from Hamilton. She guided the Continentals to a 14-8-3 overall record and third place in the conference standings with a 9-5-2 mark. Hamilton was the No. 3 seed for the NESCAC championship — the Continentals’ highest seeding in program history. The 14 wins this season set a team record and Hamilton made a couple appearances in the D3hockey.com and USCHO.com Division III Top 10 polls with a high of No. 8 in the Feb. 13 USCHO.com poll. The Continentals are sixth in the division in scoring defense with 1.28 goals allowed per game and third in penalty kill at 92.5 percent (74-for-80).
