Holy Cross Women's Hockey Wins ECAC Championship

WORCESTER, Mass. – Senior Stephanie Couzin  (Chicago, Ill.) was named the ECAC Open Most Outstanding Player as the Holy Cross women's ice hockey team defeated Sacred Heart, 4-2, in the ECAC Open Championship Sunday afternoon at the Hart Center. With the win, the Crusaders close out the 2008-2009 season with an overall record of 24-2-1 (17-2-1 ECAC) and are named the 2008-2009 ECAC Open Champions while the Pioneers close out the season 13-16-2.

Holy Cross set the tone of the game with a quick goal to start the first period. Junior Kathryn O'Connor (Brookfield, Conn.) scored at the 1:36 mark to give Holy Cross the early one goal advantage. O'Connor scored from in the slot, assisted by junior Kathryn Kelley (Dedham, Mass.) and freshman Nicola Garat (Princeton, N.J.). The Crusaders then took advantage of the power play opportunity when sophomore Jocelyn Kratchmer (Watrous, Saskatchewan) scored at the 6:42 mark to give Holy Cross the 2-0 lead. Kratchmer, assisted by Couzin and freshman Stacey Hochkins (New Boston, Mich.), crashed the crease to score the goal. Sacred Heart responded at the 9:48 mark when Lauren Fontaine took advantage of the power play opportunity to score the Pioneer's first goal of the game. Sophomore Emily Henry (Lumsden, Saskatchewan) answered back for the Crusaders, scoring the unassisted goal and eventual game-winner from just inside the blue line at the 17:26 mark to close out the first period in favor of the Crusaders, 3-1.

The Crusaders pounded the goal in the second period, out shooting Sacred Heart 16-6, but were unable to get past Pioneer goalkeeper Amanda Nagel. Neither team was able to take advantage of multiple power play opportunities, ending the second period with no score change; Holy Cross 3, Sacred Heart 1.

Sacred Heart brought the game with in one goal when Fontaine scored the power play goal just 25 seconds into the third period. Holy Cross responded with a power play goal at the 6:45 mark scored by Couzin, assisted by junior Lisa Wilson (Corunna, Ontario). Couzin and Wilson teamed up to score the goal and end the game in favor of the Crusaders, 4-2.

Sophomore Lindsay Atkinson (Westbank, British Columbia) made the start in net for the Crusaders, earning her 11th win of the season, maintaining a perfect 11-0-0 record, while Nagel falls to 13-14-2. Atkinson made 15 saves on 17 Sacred Heart shots, while Nagel made 45 saves on 49 Holy Cross shots. The Crusaders went 2-6 on the power play opportunity, while Sacred Heart went 2-5.

Couzin was named ECAC Open Most Outstanding Player, while Kratchmer and Wilson were named to the ECAC Open All-Tournament team.

The 2008-2009 ECAC Open All-Tournament team:

Stephanie Couzin (Holy Cross) Jocelyn Kratchmer (Holy Cross) Lisa Wilson (Holy Cross) Gina Arnone (Sacred Heart) Lauren Fontain (Sacred Heart) Emily Paquin (St. Michael's) Maria Dougherty (St. Anselm)

The 2008-2009 season was a record-breaking season, as Hochkins ends the season with a school-record 53 points, her 25 goals are second all-time and her 28 assists rank her first at Holy Cross. Atkinson's .936 save percentage is the best in Holy Cross school history, while all three Holy Cross goalkeepers ended the season with a goals against average under two and broke the Holy Cross school record. Atkinson ended the season with a 1.00 goals against average, sophomore Monique Gallant (Antigonish, Nova Scotia) with 1.27 and freshman Carly Dominick-Sobol (Syracuse, N.Y.) with 1.67.

Holy Cross closes out the 2008-2009 season with 24 victories, the most in school history. It's 117 single-season goals scored ranks number one all-time at Holy Cross, its 37 single-season goals allowed is fewest all-time and its seven shutouts are second all-time.