AUS Women's Hockey Awards and All-Stars Announced, Chris Larade named Coach of the Year and Rebecca Clark Rookie of the year
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Rebecca Clark, Saint Mary's
Rebecca Clark, a first-year goaltender from Keswick, Ont., is the AUS women's hockey rookie of the year.
Clark, also named to the AUS all-rookie team today, played in 16 regular season games this year for the Huskies.
The 5-foot-9 environmental science student led the conference in wins with 13 this season, finishing second in the league with a 1.86 goals-against average, adding a .914 save percentage.
The Huskies finished first in AUS regular season play with a 17-6-1 record.
"Rebecca has come in and handled the bulk of the workload and provided great stability for her team," said Huskies head coach Chris Larade.
Clark becomes the fourth Saint Mary's player to be named the conference's top rookie. She joins current teammate Breanna Lanceleve (2013-14), and former Saint Mary's players Sienna Cooke (2012-13), Courtney Schriver (2004-05), and Lindsay Taylor (2002-03).
Clark will look to become the fourth Atlantic conference player to be selected as the CIS rookie of the year. StFX's Alexa Normore (2010-11) and former Saint Mary's players Courtney Taylor (2002-03) and Lindsay Schriver (2004-05) are the only AUS players to have won the CIS award.
COACH OF THE YEAR: Chris Larade, Saint Mary's
Saint Mary's head coach Chris Larade has been selected by his peers as the 2015-16 AUS coach of the year in his fifth season with the Huskies program.
Prior to joining the Huskies program, Chris served as assistant coach for the StFX X-Women's varsity program where the team captured an AUS title and made two CIS national championship appearances.
This season, he led the Huskies to a 17-6-1 record, including a first-place finish in the AUS conference standings.
The Huskies led the conference in short-handed goals with five, as well as assists with 109. Saint Mary's finished second in goals for and goals against this season with 69 and 47, respectively.
"Coach Larade has worked long and hard to rebuild the Saint Mary's University women's hockey program," said Huskies athletic director Kevin Downie. "This award is a fitting testament to a job well done by a truly dedicated players coach."
Larade's past coaching experiences include three years as head coach of the Metro Boston Pizza Female Midget AAA program of the NSFMHL, where the team captured three provincial and league titles and two Atlantic silver medals, and where he was twice named coach of the year.
He was an assistant coach for Team Nova Scotia at the 2011 Canada Winter Games, which were held in Halifax. He has also been heavily involved with Hockey Nova Scotia's High Performance Program at the U18 and U16 levels, winning five Atlantic Challenge Cups.
Larade becomes the second Saint Mary's coach to earn AUS coach of the year honours. Former Huskies coach Lisa MacDonald won the honour in both the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons.
Larade will look to become the fourth Atlantic conference coach to be selected as the CIS coach of the year. Moncton's Rheal Bordage (2006-07), Dalhousie's Lesley Jordan (2005-06), and Saint Mary's MacDonald (2002-03) are the only Atlantic conference coaches to earn the national honour.
FIRST AND SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS AND ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
This year's Atlantic University Sport first and second team all-stars, along with the all-rookie team members are as follows:
First Team All-Stars:
Goaltender: Émilie Bouchard, Moncton (4th year – Casselman, Ont.)
Defence: Sarah Douglas, Saint Mary's (4th year – Whitby, Ont.)
Defence: Emily van Diepen, Mount Allison (5th year – Morell, P.E.I.)
Forward: Breanna Lanceleve, Saint Mary's (3rd year – Middle Sackville, N.S.)
Forward: Kelty Apperson, St. Thomas (4th year – New Hamburg, Ont.)
Forward: Marie-Pier Corriveau (2nd year – Magog, Que.)
Second Team All-Stars:
Goaltender: Marie-Soleil Deschenes, UPEI (4th year – Ile-Perrot, Que.)
Defence: Jessica McCann, St. Thomas (1st year – Grand Bay, N.B.)
Defence: Emma Martin, UPEI (3rd year – Winsloe, P.E.I.)
Forward: Daley Oddy, StFX (3rd year - Cranbrooke, B.C.)
Forward: Marie-Pier Arsenault, Moncton (5th year, Bonaventure, Que.)
Forward: Lisa MacLean, Dalhousie (Inverness, N.S)
All-Rookie Team:
Goaltender: Rebecca Clark, Saint Mary's (Keswick, Ont.)
Defence: Jessica McCann, St. Thomas (Grand Bay, N.B.)
Defence: Kiana Wilkinson, Saint Mary's (Prince George, B.C.)
Forward: Kathrine Dubuc, Moncton (Victoriaville, Que.)
Forward: Heather Richards, Mount Allison (St. Anthony, N.L.)
Forward: Hayley Hallihan, Saint Mary's (Miramichi, N.B)
Full release http://www.atlanticuniversitysport.com/sports/wice/2015-16/releases/20160224ns6u2i