TROY, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men’s hockey team held its annual year-end banquet and among the festivities were celebrations of the three seniors and the distribution of the year-end team awards, which were presented by head coach Dave Smith.
The team’s highest honor is the Most Valuable Player Award and it was presented to sophomore forward Jacob Hayhurst, who was also named Best Offensive Player. Senior defenseman Jared Wilson was named the Best Defensive Player, while Linden Marshall earned the Freshman of the Year Award. Sophomore TJ Samec was selected as the Most Improved Player, while the Eric James ’99 Scholar-Athlete of the Year went to senior Mike Prapavessis. Senior Viktor Liljegren was presented with the Ben Mayo Most Inspirational Player Award and Prapavessis collected the Community Service Award.
The Class of 2018, which in its time defeated three nationally-first ranked opponents, consists of Prapavessis, Wilson and Liljegren. The trio played in a combined 456 games for the Engineers over the last four season, collecting 65 goals and 107 assists for 172 points.
Playing in 36 of 37 games this season, Hayhurst (Mississauga, ON/Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) recorded team-highs in goals (12), points (23) and shorthanded goals (1). He also led the team in shooting percentage (14.3) and face-off winning percentage (53.0). Four of RPI’s six wins came in games which he recorded a point and he produced five multi-point games.
Wilson (Calgary, AB/Vernon Vipers0 was chosen as the Best Defensive Player after helping the Engineers hold the opposition to 3.44 goals per game and 33.8 shots per contest. RPI allowed two-or-fewer goals in 11 of 37 games, including one shutout. Offensively, Wilson was fourth on the team with 14 points on seven goals and seven assists, including four power play tallies. A freshman goaltender, Marshall played in 29 games (28 starts) between the pipes for the Engineers, going 5-20-2 with a 3.17 goals against average and a .904 save percentage, registering one shutout.
A defenseman, Samec (St. Paul, MN/Brookings Blizzard) picked up a goal and two assists for three points in 26 games, after dressing just 14 times as a freshman. His first collegiate tally came on January 27 against Union College in the Mayor’s Cup. Prapavessis (Oakville, ON/Toronto Patriots) earned RPI’s academic award after posting a 3.87 cumulative GPA and a 4.0 in the fall semester. On the ice, he collected a team-high 19 assists for 19 points, while playing in all 37 games.
The Ben Mayo Most Inspirational Player Award was presented to Liljegren (Stockholm, Sweden/Fairbanks Ice Dogs), who played in 37 games, scoring nine goals and adding four assist for 13 points. Three of his goals were game-winners, while three more came on the power play. Throughout the season, he skated through injury, including coming back to play on Senior Night and RPI’s three-game series against Colgate at less than 100 percent.
Prapavessis took home the Community Service Award after going above and beyond what the Engineers did as a team, which included hosting the Sixth Annual Autism Awareness Game, cleaning up and assisting with the community of Britt, Ontario, before the season and coaching sports for kids with physical disabilities.
