March 9, 2010

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - This week's USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women's College Hockey Poll was released today and the Providence College Friars were ranked No. 10 with nine votes. The Friars are one of four Hockey East teams to earn a spot amongst the top-10 as New Hampshire (76) came in at No. 7, Boston University (57) sits at No. 8 and Connecticut (45) stands at No. 9. Mercyhurst College (190) is the unanimous choice at No. 1 with 19 first-place votes and goes into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed.

This past weekend, PC, the top seed, lost in the Hockey East Semifinals to No. 5 Connecticut, 3-2. UConn fell in the championship, 2-1, in overtime to No. 3 Boston University. BU advanced after defeating No. 2 UNH, 4-0. The Friars did not earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

The Friars earned several honors at the Hockey East Awards Banquet on Friday, March 6. Coach Bob Deraney was named Hockey East Coach of the Year after leading the Friars to the regular season championship. Sophomore Ashley Cottrell (Sterling Heights, Mich.) was named a First-Team All-Star after leading the Friars in goals (14), assists (17) and points (31). Juniors Jean O'Neill (Strafford, Pa.) and Amber Yung (Rockville, Va.) joined sophomore goaltender Genevieve Lacasse (Scarborough, Ontario) as Second-Team All-Stars. Junior Alyse Ruff (Tualatin, Ore.) was named an Honorable Mention All-Star.