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D1 Rookie of the Year


#97 -- Lynsey Babcock, SRU

Lynsey was one of the leading scorers and point leaders on the team.  Despite her physical challenges of having a heart pacemaker and chronic back pain, she tirelessly attended practices and gave her all in the games.  Her back injuries this season unfortunately ended her dream of continuing to play college hockey.  She plans on coaching once her back surgeries are completed.


#12 -- Katie Barbor, UMD

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Katie Barbor was a key addition to keeping the University of Maryland’s women's hockey team competitive this season.  She came in as a freshman and brought a spark to the team.  Katie was not only our leading scorer but was also a defensive stronghold as well. Katie played every other shift and was still able to boast one of the best plus-minus records on the team. She was our most valuable player.

 Katie was top line power play and top line plenty kill.  Every time she touched the ice she genuinely played like it is her last shift and goes all out all the time. On more than one occasion Katie got sick on the bench and still managed to not miss a shift. Even though Katie was only a freshman she was a role model to others on the team and almost never missed anything. The team would turn to Katie when they needed to be pulled up and focused. Katie was able to do that. Unlike most of the girls Katie grew up playing boys hockey. She has a different style to her play. She plays with confidence and a swagger that was uncommon among the many of the girls.

Katie is a well rounded player who was the driving the force behind Maryland's season this year. Katie was Maryland's highest scorer and would hands down be the choice for Maryland's rookie of the year and MVP.


#17 -- Claire Clark, NAVY

Claire Clark is one of those players you are proud to wear the same jersey as. She works hard on and off the ice, setting the standard for what it means to be a Navy Women’s Ice Hockey player. She is physically fit, excels in the classroom, and exudes joy. In practice, Claire challenges the team to play to her level, which can be frustrating if you are trying to get past her. Claire protects the net well, has the ability to skate the puck end-to-end to score a goal, and has the hockey sense to know when to step up and when to stay back.


#18 -- Alyssa Davis, LIBERTY

Alyssa joined our team at the last minute and proved to be a great player for us. She was dominant in each game from an offensive and defensive standpoint. Alyssa is a great definition of an all around hockey player being able to be strong up front and also defensively through back-checking or playing defense when we needed strength there. Alyssa concluded the season and led our team with 2 power player goals, 5 of our 9 scored and assisting on an additional 2 of the 9 goals. She worked hard each game and proved to break up our opponents plays when possible.


#14 -- Jacqueline Denning, VIL

"Wow."  That's the general reaction that people have after watching Denning play hockey.  We've gotten it from other coaches, other players, and fans. She's flat-out incredible. The best thing about Denning is that you get all of the talent and none of the ego. In fact, she may be the most modest person on the team. After having a four-goal game, we'll ask her how many goals she scored.  She'll answer with a shrug, as if it's no big deal. But it has been a huge deal for our team. Some players lead their teams through words; Denning leads her team through play. She has single-handedly erased three-goal deficits, and her team does not hesitate to rally behind her. Jackie is the definition of a game-changer, and as freshman is the cornerstone of our team.  As if she wasn't impressive enough, Denning is also a member of Villanova's varsity crew team.  Her days start with crew practice at dawn, and finishes with hockey practices at 11PM.  And she's never missed a thing. Correction, the best thing about Denning is that we have her for three more seasons.


#4 -- Taisiya Novopachennaia, UVA

Tasy has worked hard off ice to improve her skating and stick-handling and it shows in her exponential growth since she joined the team in Aug of this year.  (10 Pts, 1G, 9A)


#2 -- Emily Potere, TOWSON

Like many of the Tigers, Emily is also a recent transfer. This is her first time playing on an organized women’s team. Her previous playing experience was on adult league teams or pick-up games at her local ice rink. Emily worked diligently during the season and has made noticeable improvements. She learned many of the fundamental concepts of the game by absorbing all instruction.  Emily took time to ask questions of coaches and teammates to review plays so that she understood every player’s role in a play. Every game her skills, vision and positioning improved.  She finished the season with 9 goals and 23 Assists.  Emily contributed to the team at both ends of the ice and has been a factor of the team’s success. As a player who is new to organized Ice Hockey, she has excelled in a very short time. Emily is a role model to new girls joining the club of how commitment and hard work can produce results. We are excited to see her skills improve even further as she works to leave a lasting impact on the team.


#38 -- Susan Zane, RUTGERS

Hockey is definitely one of the more difficult sports to begin to play. There all types of balance and coordination issues that most people have to really work on. These problems have never stopped Zane from trying her best. One of the highlights of our season as a team was the practice Zane learned how to skate backwards. People like her remind you why you love the game so much and to recognize the things you usually forget (like learning to skate backwards or to take snap shots).  There's no doubt we'll miss her next semester while she's in London.