Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University women's hockey program recently announced the Colonials' 2010-11 team award winners.
Senior assistant captain Sara O'Malley (Guelph, Ontario / Hamilton Hawks) earned the highest honor as she was selected as the team's Most Valuable Player for the preceding campaign. O'Malley, who was also named the team's Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight season, broke RMU's all-time goals and all-time points records during her final season as she led the team in goals (14) for the second-consecutive year and tied for the team lead in points (30). She wrapped up her Colonial career with 52 scores and 45 assists, a figure which is second in the RMU career record book, to total 97 points and became just the second player in program history to reach the 30-point mark in multiple seasons. She tallied eight multi-point efforts in 2010-11 and became the first player since 2008 to record back-to-back-to-back multi-point games, a feat she finalized during Robert Morris' postseason quarterfinal victory. In RMU's 11 games against nationally-ranked teams, O'Malley led the squad by registering a team-high 12 points on six goals and six assists.
Senior captain Whitney Pappas (Evergreen, Colo. / Belle Tire) was selected as the Colonials' Defensive Player of the Year. She was a captain for the second-consecutive season in 2010-11 and finished her Robert Morris career ranked second in all-time goals for defenseman and fourth in all-time in points by a defenseman. Pappas assisted on the game-clinching goal in RMU's College Hockey America (CHA) Quarterfinal victory while posting a +2 plus/minus in the contest. She laced up her skates 139 times for the Colonials, second-most in program history, while also earning acclaim for her off-ice accomplishments. Pappas was named as one of eight national finalists for the BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award, becoming the first student-athlete in school history to be named a finalist for the award that honors college hockey's finest citizen.
Pappas, who sported a cumulative 3.63 grade point average as a communication major, was also chosen as the squad's Student-Athlete of the Year.
Freshman Thea Imbrogno (Etobicoke, Ontario / Mississauga Jr. Chiefs) was chosen as Robert Morris' Rookie of the Year, a natural choice considering Imbrogno had previously earned CHA Rookie of the Year distinction, becoming the first Colonial in program history to win a major postseason CHA award. Imbrogno finished the season third on the team with 29 points and ranked sixth nationally in points per game for rookies due in part to a program-record 10-game point streak near the conclusion of the season. She tallied 12 goals and 17 assists, both second on the team, and broke the single-season school record for shots, finishing with 124. Imbrogno's season was made even more impressive by her ability to produce at the biggest moments and in the most important games. She posted 11 points in RMU's 11 games against nationally-ranked opponents and also raised her play during CHA competition. She elevated her performance against league foes as she posted team-leading marks of 10 goals, 10 assists, 20 points and 72 shots in conference play.
Fellow rookie Anneline Lauziere (St. Thomas, Ontario / London Jr. Devilettes) claimed RMU's Most Improved Player award. After getting acclimated to the collegiate level during the fall, Lauziere was the Colonials' most productive defenseman during the spring campaign. She collected five points, including her first-career goal, during the final 13 games of the regular season, four of which came during conference play. Lauziere also registered her first-career multi-point game Feb. 18 against Syracuse, including providing a game-tying assist against the Orange with under two minutes remaining in regulation.
Sophomore forward Courtney Langston (Warrensburgh, Mo. / Shattuck St. Mary's) earned the Player's Player award given to the team's most inspirational member. Langston missed time due to injury during the middle portion of the season but battled her way back and provided her first-career game-winning goal in her first series back to the ice Feb. 12 in a 2-1 road win. Langston skated in 30 games for RMU this past season and has played in 55 overall thus far during her RMU career.
Sophomore defenseman Jamie Joslin (Richmond Hill, Ontario / Aurora Panthers) won the Deborah Sampson Award for 2010-11 after taking home RMU's Rookie of the Year award in 2009-10. Joslin picked up four assists this past season while skating in 34 games along the blue line for RMU. She provided the game-winning assist in the latter half of the third period in the Colonials' season-opening upset of nationally-ranked Providence. Joslin also added another game-winning assist just over a month later in RMU's CHA home opener Nov. 12 and contributed an assist on a shorthanded goal in February. Joslin has tallied six goals and seven assists in two seasons for Robert Morris.
Senior goaltender Daneca Butterfield (Kronau, Saskatchewan / Notre Dame Hounds) was named the team's Strength and Conditioning Champion for the second-consecutive season. Butterfield saw action between the pipes in 11 games in 2010-11 for RMU and recorded 234 saves. She stopped over 1200 shots in her career in over 2700 minutes of action and earned 15 wins in the cage.
Forward Dayna Newsom (Oakville, Ontario / Oakville Ice) was selected as the Coaches' Award recipient after concluding her breakout sophomore season. Newsom tallied 20 points in the team's first 26 games and finished fourth on the team in points (21) and tied for third in assists (16). She broke out of the gate on fire, collecting three multi-point efforts in the team's first seven games, including two against nationally-ranked opponents. She notched her second-career three-point game Oct. 16 against Northeastern, factoring into the scoring on three consecutive goals in a span of 25:36, to kick off a six-game point streak in which she registered nine points. Newsom also recorded eight points in the Colonials' 11 contests that came against nationally-ranked foes. She has 11 goals and 22 assists in 70 career games for Robert Morris.
Robert Morris advanced to the CHA Semifinals for the second consecutive season after freshman Brandi Pollock's (Virden, Manitoba / Westman Wildcats) first-collegiate goal broke a 2-2 tie late in the third period in their quarterfinal matchup. RMU once again played a very demanding schedule in 2010-11 as the Colonials played 15 games against teams that finished the year ranked or receiving votes nationally.