DULUTH, Minn. -- Senior Brandi Wilson (Fenton, Mich.) headlines a group of three Trine University women's hockey student-athletes, becoming the first player in program history to earn the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) Women's Player of the Year Award. Senior Kirsten Vandenheuvel (Denfield, Ontario) joined Wilson on the All-Conference team while Ryleigh Furlong (Lakeville, Minn.) was named to the All-Freshman team.
The Player of the Year award is the crowning touch to a spectacular season for Wilson. She finished the year with 40 points including 21 goals and 19 assists, all three becoming new program single-season records. She also averaged 1.43 points per game, another record. Wilson led the NCHA in points and goals while coming in second in assists.
"Brandi has really shouldered the scoring burden for our team this year," Trine head coach Tom Hofman said. "She is always out there in those critical situations when your best player needs to be on the ice because of her ability to take the game over."
Wilson was also the only NCHA player to record a pair of hat tricks in league play, picking up NCHA Offensive Player of the Week honors on a pair of occasions over the course of the 2021-22 campaign. She will finish her career at Trine as the all-time leader in points (63) and assists (33) while finishing second in goals (30).
Vanenheuvel joins Wilson on the All-Conference team mainly for her solid defensive play. She is finished tied for fist among defenders in NCHA play with 14 points including four goals and 10 assists. Earlier this season she became one of two student-athletes to record their 100th game for the Thunder. The pair become the first Trine student-athletes to be named to the All-Conference team.
Furlong becomes just the second Thunder to be named to the NCHA All-Freshman team, while becoming the frist goalie for the team to earn a end of year honor from the conference. She made 10 starts in 12 games during league play, posting a 2.77 goals-against average and making 299 saves with a .906 save percentage. Overall for the season she led the Thunder with a 2.64 goals-against average, 407 saves and a .907 save percentage.
