Watts Sweeps Hockey East Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Boston College freshman Daryl Watts won the Cammi Granato Award as Hockey East's Player of the Year and also took home the Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Year on Friday night at the annual Hockey East Tournament Banquet at the Royal Sonesta Hotel tonight.

Additionally, Watts, sophomore forward Caitrin Lonergan and senior defensemen Toni Ann Miano were all unanimous selections to the Hockey East All-Star First Team. Senior goaltender Katie Burt was voted a Second-Team All-Star, while junior forward Makenna Newkirk was named to the Honorable Mention squad.

Watts became the second freshman – and first since Boston College's Kelli Stack in 2006-07 – to win both the league's Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season. Watts was a unanimous selection as the league's top rookie this season, receiving all eight available votes from the Hockey East coaches.

Watts' is the Eagles' seventh Hockey East Player of the Year, and the second in as many years after then-junior defenseman Megan Keller earned the honor in 2017. Kelli Stack '11 (2007, 2009, 2011) and Alex Carpenter '16 (2013, 2015) also earned the honor.

With three first-team all-star selections and one second-team honoree, BC has now claimed 46 places all-time on the first and second Hockey East All-Star teams.

Watts posted one of the best seasons in Hockey East history, matching the Hockey East single-season points (55) and goals (30) records, last set in 2015-16. She also added 25 assists, which marked the sixth-highest total in single-season history. She recorded points in 23-of-24 league games, including 16 multiple-point games.

The Toronto, Ontario, native led the league in scoring by six points over Lonergan (49 points), and also had a nine-goal lead in goals. She was third in the league in assists behind Lonergan and Newkirk. Additionally, Watts' eight power-play goals were tied as the league's top mark, and she also shared the league lead in shorthanded points (three goals, one assist). Among freshmen scorers, Watts' 55 points more than doubled over the next closest player, who had 22 points.

Earlier this week, Watts was named a unanimous selection to the Hockey East Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team, and also won the Hockey East Three Stars Award and the Hockey East Scoring Championship. This season, she was the HEA October Player of the Month and a three-time Hockey East Rookie of the Month (October, November, January). She earned the same national monthly honors from the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA). She was a two-time Hockey East Player of the Week and a seven-time conference Rookie of the Week.

Lonergan was the league's second-leading scorer with 49 points in 24 games, coming from 21 goals and 28 assists. She recorded points in 23-of-24 league games, including 15 multiple-point games.

The Roslindale, Massachusetts, product led the league in assists, posting the third-highest single-season total in league history. Her 21 goals were tied for the sixth-highest single-season total and tied for second-most this season.

Overall, her 49 points tied for the fourth-highest single-season mark in conference history. Lonergan also led Hockey East in game-winning goals (6), and finished second to Watts in power-play scoring (16 points). She was third in power-play goals (6), fifth in shorthanded goals (2) and tied for fourth in shorthanded points (3). Lonergan's +25 mark in league games was second in Hockey East this season.

Lonergan was the Hockey East Player of the Month in December, and a two-time HEA Player of the Week.

Miano, who earlier this week was the league's unanimous choice as the Hockey East Best Defenseman, anchored the league's top defense and was the conference's top-scoring blue liner, finishing seventh in scoring overall.

BC's defense allowed 1.92 goals per game and a league-low 46 goals in 24 games, topping second-place Maine by a quarter of a goal (2.17 goals per game). Additionally, despite recording the league's most penalty minutes this year (228), BC had Hockey East's second-best penalty kill at 87.1 percent.

Offensively, the Bronx, New York, product led all conference blue liners with 23 points in 24 league games, scoring 12 goals and adding 11 assists. Her +22 plus/minus mark was third-best in the league and tops among defensemen, and she also finished tied for seventh in league goals and tied for eighth in power-play points (8).

Miano wrapped up her Hockey East career with the conference's defenseman records for career points (65) and career goals (26), as well as the single-game record for goals (4).

Watts, Lonergan and Miano were also recognized nationally as Top 10 Finalists for the 2018 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, and Watts was this week named one of the Top 3 Finalists for the award, which will be presented March 17.

Burt finished her illustrious Hockey East career this season as the conference's career goaltending leader in almost every category, including wins (70), shutouts (24), goals against average (1.39) and minutes played (4880:40). She finished her career tied for second in career save percentage (.938) and ninth in career saves (1,714).

This season, the Lynn, Massachusetts, native led Hockey East in games played (24), games started (24), minutes (1,453:26), saves (628), shots face (674), wins (19), winning percentage (.854) and shutouts (4). She was second in save percentage (.932) by one one-thousandth of a point and goals against average (1.90) by two one-thousandths of a point.

This just Burt's third Hockey East All-Star honor. She was a second-team honoree as a freshman in 2014-15 and an honorable mention selection in 2015-16 as a sophomore.

One season after a Second-Team All-Star performance in 2016-17, Newkirk was voted to the Honorable Mention squad after finishing tied for fourth in conference scoring this season. Her 26 assists in league play were the second-highest total this year and the fifth-highest total in league history. Newkirk recorded at least one point in 19-of-24 league games, with nine multiple-point games.

Overall, Newkirk posted 35 points from nine goals and 26 assists in Hockey East play. Her 11 power-play points were tied for third-most in the conference, while her five PPGs were tied for fourth most this year. The Scottsdale, Arizona, product also tied for fourth in shorthanded points (3) and tied for sixth in shorthanded goals (1). Her three conference game-winning goals were tied for third in the league, and her +15 mark in conference play was tied for eighth this season.

The Hockey East Coach of the Year Award was also presented on Friday night, going to Maine's Richard Reichenbach. Picked to finish ninth in the Hockey East Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Black Bears finished the year in third place with a program-record tying 11 conference wins and a program-best 26 points in league play.

Third-ranked Boston College (30-3-3, 19-2-3 Hockey East) returns to the ice tomorrow, Saturday, March 3 when the top-seeded Eagles face seventh-seeded Connecticut in the Hockey East Tournament semifinals. Faceoff is set for 1:30 p.m. at Northeastern's Matthews Arena. The game will be streamed on hockeyeastonline.tv for free, and will be televised in its entirety on a tape-delayed basis on NESNPlus at 10 p.m. on Saturday.

The winner of the BC-UConn semifinal will meet the winner of the Maine-Northeastern semifinal at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 4, in the Hockey East Championship game at Matthews Arena, which will be televised live on NESNPlus.

Watts Sweeps Hockey East Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year

Players Mentioned

Katie Burt

Megan Keller

Caitrin Lonergan

Toni Ann Miano

Makenna Newkirk

Daryl Watts

Related Videos