March 30, 2008

Providence, R.I. - The Providence College women's ice hockey team announced its annual team awards on Sunday, March 29 in Providence, R.I. at the program's 2008 Awards Banquet. After each of the seven graduating seniors were honored for their commitment to Friar hockey and Providence College, the awards portion of the banquet got underway.

Seniors Rachel Crissy (Napperville, Ill.) and Kelli Doolin (Dorchester, Mass.) were presented with the Captain's Award for their leadership throughout the 2007-08 season. Doolin also earned the team's Unsung Hero Award as the player who consistently contributed to the team and its success, but did not receive the recognition she deserved. In her career, Doolin played in 139 games for the Friars, ranking her tied for fifth most all-time.

Junior defenseman Brittany Simpson (Barrie, Ontario) was then awarded the Academic Award, which is presented to the player with the highest cumulative grade point average, by earning a 3.44 GPA from the 2007 spring and fall semesters. Simpson, a sociology major, beat out four of her teammates who were also in the running for the award, as they had GPA's over 3.0.

Freshman defenseman Amber Yung (Rockville, Va.) was the recipient of the Coaches' Award. The award is given annually by the members of the coaching staff to the player who the coaches believe surpassed expectations in order to help the team reach a high level of success. Yung saw extensive playing time on both the power-play and penalty-killing units. For the season, she recorded 15 points on two goals and 13 assists, including two different games in which she had three assists.

Freshman defenseman Leigh Riley (Lexington, Mass.) earned the team's Most Improved Player award as the player that showed the greatest improvement over the course of the season. She played in 28 of the team's 36 games, including a streak of 20 straight to end the season.

Senior Cherie Hendrickson (Boxford, Mass.) was the recipient of the Seventh Player Award. The award is given annually to the player that performs beyond expectations and is an integral part of the team's success as voted by the team. As a senior, Hendrickson notched career highs in goals, assists and points.

Senior defenseman Kathleen Smith (Waterloo, Ontario) was named the team's Most Valuable Player. This season she earned Hockey East Player of the Month honors for January and she finished tied for the National lead in goals scored by a defenseman with 16. For the season she had 16 goals and 14 assists for a team-high 30 points. She was also named to the All-Hockey East first Team and to the 2008 All-Tournament Team.