Boston College Athletics
Three Voted Patty Kazmaier Award Top 10 Finalists
February 25, 2016 | Women's Hockey
The national player of the year will be announced on Saturday, March 19
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Three members of the top-ranked Boston College women's hockey team have been voted Top 10 finalists for the 2016 Patty Kazmaier Award, presented annually by the USA Hockey Foundation to the top Division I women's college hockey player the country.
Seniors Alex Carpenter and Haley Skarupa and sophomore Megan Keller are among the Top 10 finalists. Carpenter was the 2015 Patty Kazmaier Award winner.
The winner of the 2016 Patty Kazmaier Award will be announced on Saturday, March 19, in conjunction with the Frozen Four.
Boston College has the most representatives among the Top 10 finalists, followed by Minnesota and Wisconsin with two apiece. There are six forwards, two defensemen and two goaltenders among the finalists. The finalists also feature five seniors, three juniors and two sophomores. The full Top 10 is available at pattykaz.com.
Carpenter, who won the award last season, again leads the nation in scoring entering the postseason. The senior from North Reading, Mass., has 76 points through 34 games, coming from 38 goals and 38 assists. In addition to leading the nation in points, Carpenter also tops all players in assists, power-play assists (15), power-play points (23), hat tricks (4), face-off wins (507) and faceoff percentage (.706). She is second in goals and game-winning goals (7), third in plus/minus (+55), and tied for third in both power-play goals (8) and shorthanded goals (3).
Carpenter enters the postseason ranked No. 5 in the NCAA in career scoring (266 points) and career goals (128), and tied for eighth in NCAA history in career assists (138). She set the Hockey East record for assists in a conference season (32) this season, and finished as the league's career assist leader (84). Carpenter closed her conference career second in league points (160) and goals (76). She holds almost every Boston College career scoring record, including points (266), goals (128), assists (138), game-winning goals (26) and power-play goals (25).
Skarupa, who is a repeat Top 10 finalist from 2014-15, is third in the nation in both scoring (66 points) and points per game (1.94). A senior for Rockville, Md., Skarupa is third nationally in goals (29) and tied for second in assists (37). She is second nationally in power-play goals (9) and seventh in power-play scoring (15 pts.). She's added one shorthanded goal this season while collecting two hat tricks. Her seven game-winning goals are tied for second nationally.
Skarupa enters the postseason ranked No. 16 in NCAA career scoring (231 points), No. 13 in career goals (109) and No. 22 in career assists (122). She capped her Hockey East career as the conference's No. 3 career scorer in league play with 140 points. Her 73 Hockey East goals are third-most in conference history, and her 68 assists are fourth-most. Skarupa is currently second at Boston College in career points (231) and assists (122), and third in goals (109), game-winning goals (21), power-play goals (22), shorthanded goals (10) and hat tricks (6).
Keller is making her debut on the Patty Kazmaier Top 10 list in just her second collegiate season. The defenseman from Farmington Hills, Mich., has anchored the Eagles' defense that is ranked third nationally, allowing just 1.18 goals per game. The team set a program record with 13 shutouts this season and limited opponents to just 20.4 shots per game, fifth best in the country.
Offensively, Keller is the nation's top scoring defenseman with a program defenseman-record 44 points from 12 goals and 32 assists. Her +56 plus/minus rating is second-best among all players in the nation, and her 32 assists are tied for sixth among all skaters. She's been especially prolific on the power play, where her 15 power-play assists share the national lead with Carpenter, and her 19 power-play points are second only to Carpenter.
Despite being a sophomore, Keller is already ranked sixth at BC in career scoring by a defenseman (68 points), fifth in career goals by a defenseman (16) and tied for sixth in career assists by a defenseman (52).
No. 1 Boston College became just the second team in NCAA history to enter the postseason with a perfect record. BC is 34-0-0 on the season, and won its third-straight Hockey East regular-season crown with a 24-0-0 mark to become the first team in league history – men or women – to finish the conference slate with an unblemished record.
The Eagles lead the nation in goals (185), scoring offense (5.44 goals per game) and scoring margin (+4.26), rank second on the power-play (31.7 percent), third in scoring defense (1.18 goals allowed per game) and fourth on the penalty kill (91.0 percent).
Boston College returns to action this weekend when the top-seeded Eagles host eighth-seeded Maine in a best-of-three Hockey East quarterfinal series at Kelley Rink. Faceoff is set for 2 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 26, and at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27. Should a third game be needed, it would be played at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 28.
Seniors Alex Carpenter and Haley Skarupa and sophomore Megan Keller are among the Top 10 finalists. Carpenter was the 2015 Patty Kazmaier Award winner.
The winner of the 2016 Patty Kazmaier Award will be announced on Saturday, March 19, in conjunction with the Frozen Four.
Boston College has the most representatives among the Top 10 finalists, followed by Minnesota and Wisconsin with two apiece. There are six forwards, two defensemen and two goaltenders among the finalists. The finalists also feature five seniors, three juniors and two sophomores. The full Top 10 is available at pattykaz.com.
Carpenter, who won the award last season, again leads the nation in scoring entering the postseason. The senior from North Reading, Mass., has 76 points through 34 games, coming from 38 goals and 38 assists. In addition to leading the nation in points, Carpenter also tops all players in assists, power-play assists (15), power-play points (23), hat tricks (4), face-off wins (507) and faceoff percentage (.706). She is second in goals and game-winning goals (7), third in plus/minus (+55), and tied for third in both power-play goals (8) and shorthanded goals (3).
Carpenter enters the postseason ranked No. 5 in the NCAA in career scoring (266 points) and career goals (128), and tied for eighth in NCAA history in career assists (138). She set the Hockey East record for assists in a conference season (32) this season, and finished as the league's career assist leader (84). Carpenter closed her conference career second in league points (160) and goals (76). She holds almost every Boston College career scoring record, including points (266), goals (128), assists (138), game-winning goals (26) and power-play goals (25).
Skarupa, who is a repeat Top 10 finalist from 2014-15, is third in the nation in both scoring (66 points) and points per game (1.94). A senior for Rockville, Md., Skarupa is third nationally in goals (29) and tied for second in assists (37). She is second nationally in power-play goals (9) and seventh in power-play scoring (15 pts.). She's added one shorthanded goal this season while collecting two hat tricks. Her seven game-winning goals are tied for second nationally.
Skarupa enters the postseason ranked No. 16 in NCAA career scoring (231 points), No. 13 in career goals (109) and No. 22 in career assists (122). She capped her Hockey East career as the conference's No. 3 career scorer in league play with 140 points. Her 73 Hockey East goals are third-most in conference history, and her 68 assists are fourth-most. Skarupa is currently second at Boston College in career points (231) and assists (122), and third in goals (109), game-winning goals (21), power-play goals (22), shorthanded goals (10) and hat tricks (6).
Keller is making her debut on the Patty Kazmaier Top 10 list in just her second collegiate season. The defenseman from Farmington Hills, Mich., has anchored the Eagles' defense that is ranked third nationally, allowing just 1.18 goals per game. The team set a program record with 13 shutouts this season and limited opponents to just 20.4 shots per game, fifth best in the country.
Offensively, Keller is the nation's top scoring defenseman with a program defenseman-record 44 points from 12 goals and 32 assists. Her +56 plus/minus rating is second-best among all players in the nation, and her 32 assists are tied for sixth among all skaters. She's been especially prolific on the power play, where her 15 power-play assists share the national lead with Carpenter, and her 19 power-play points are second only to Carpenter.
Despite being a sophomore, Keller is already ranked sixth at BC in career scoring by a defenseman (68 points), fifth in career goals by a defenseman (16) and tied for sixth in career assists by a defenseman (52).
No. 1 Boston College became just the second team in NCAA history to enter the postseason with a perfect record. BC is 34-0-0 on the season, and won its third-straight Hockey East regular-season crown with a 24-0-0 mark to become the first team in league history – men or women – to finish the conference slate with an unblemished record.
The Eagles lead the nation in goals (185), scoring offense (5.44 goals per game) and scoring margin (+4.26), rank second on the power-play (31.7 percent), third in scoring defense (1.18 goals allowed per game) and fourth on the penalty kill (91.0 percent).
Boston College returns to action this weekend when the top-seeded Eagles host eighth-seeded Maine in a best-of-three Hockey East quarterfinal series at Kelley Rink. Faceoff is set for 2 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 26, and at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27. Should a third game be needed, it would be played at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 28.
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