DULUTH, Minn. -- The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) has announced the conference All-Academic Team and 12 members of each the Trine University men's and women's NCAA hockey teams have earned the honor.
The women added four to their total from last year to finish with the second-most honorees in the NCHA, trailing only Adrian College who finished this season with 14 on the list.
Six members of the Thunder repeated on the list including senior Katie Plyer (Layton, Utah) and juniors Kailey Cameron (Nowthen, Minn.), Hannah Nelson (Libertyville, Ill.), Jade Pandres (Eagle River, Alaska), Kirsten Vandenheuvel (Denfield, Ont.) and Sierra Westner (Saginaw, Mich.). The rest of the slate from Trine were sophomores making their first appearance. They included Autumn Burgo (Caledonia, Mich.), Kat Burke (Leesburg, Va.), Devin Dzumaryk (Milford, Mich.), Emily Nettesheim (Hartland, Wis.), Natasha Strbiak (Renton, Wash.) and Brandi Wilson (Fenton, Mich.).
On the ice, the women finished the season 9-10-4 overall and 5-9-2 in NCHA play just missing out on postseason contention.
The men also turned in a strong showing with twelve members on the list. Both Brett Young (Livonia, Mich.) and Henry Hearon (Chicago, Ill.), the two Thunder seniors, made their third straight appearance on the team. Six juniors repeated on the team including Aaron Brickman (St. Louis, Mo.), Max DiCicco (Howell, Mich.), Ben Lau (Prospect, Ky.), Blake Robertson (South Lyon, Mich.), Corey Robertson (South Lyon, Mich.) and Carmine Taffo (Staten Island, N.Y.). Junior Ryan Dumond (Woodstock, Ga.) and sophomores Brandon Krumpschmid (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Hunter Payment (Monroe, Mich.) and Austin Stauffer (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) each made the team for the first time.
The men picked up a huge series victory against nationally-ranked Lake Forest College last weekend. They will take on Adrian College this Saturday, Feb. 29 in a Harris Cup semi-final contest. The game is set to start at 7 p.m.
