March 11, 2005

Cambridge, Mass. (March 11, 2005) -- Junior Karen Thatcher (Douglas, Mass.) was selected as co-winner of the 2005 Women's HOCKEY EAST Player of the Year. Thatcher shares the honor with senior Stephanie Jones of New Hampshire.

Thatcher also earned the Sportsmanship Award, as she edged past BC's Sarah Carlson for the second straight season. Thatcher accumulated 32 conference points on 13 goals and 19 assists, one point shy of the 2004-05 Hockey East Scoring Champion, Nicole Hekle of New Hampshire. Thatcher is ranked among the nation's top stars in five categories. She is 11th in points per game (1.79), 11th in goals per game (0.88), 12th in assists per game (0.97), sixth in power play goals (13), and fifth in game-winning goals (6). She rounded out her award-winning night with a First Team All-Star selection along with teammate senior Rush Zimmerman (Grosse Pointe, Mich.), who earned her third all-star selection and is 11th on Providence's all-time points list with 156 career points. Zimmerman, who is tied for first with 52 overall points, was honored with the ITECH "Three Stars" Award for her outstanding performance throughout this season.

Freshman Kathleen Smith (Waterloo, Ontario) was the only defenseman selected on the 2004-05 ITECH All-Rookie Team. Smith was also selected as a 2004-05 Hockey East Second Team all-star pick.

Sophomores Kristin Gigliotti (Saquoit, N.Y.) and Sonny Watrous (Albuquerque, N.M.) earned all-star honorable mention honors.

No. 1 seeded Providence will play No. 4 seeded Boston College in the semifinal round of the 2005 HOCKEY EAST Tournament at Boston University's Walter Brown Arena in Cambridge, Mass. on Saturday, March 12 at noon.