Syracuse kicked off its time in Buffalo for the College Hockey America Tournament with eight wins at the annual CHA awards ceremony.

For the second-consecutive year, the Orange took home the conference’s Rookie of the Year award. This year, defender Mae Batherson took the crown after forward Lauren Bellefontaine won it last season. 

Batherson led the CHA in freshman scoring with 21 points from the blue line. This season, she set the Syracuse record for most points by a freshman defender. Batherson (five goals, 16 assists) was also named to the CHA All-Rookie team, as she’s the only freshman in the top-10 scoring leaderboard among defenders. 

Fellow freshman Madison Beishuizen also made the All-Rookie team. The forward finished fourth among CHA freshmen with 16 points.

SU defenders continued to rack up the awards. Redshirt senior Lindsay Eastwood picking up the Best Defender award. Eastwood is second on the team in points with 26. She also set a new school-record for goals scored by a defender when she notched her 21st-career goal against Mercyhurst on Jan. 11.

“That’s just my teammates helping me out,” Eastwood said on March 3. “They’re making me look good.”

It was a big night overall for the players that help keep the puck out of the net, as goaltender Allison Small won the CHA Goaltending Champion award. Last year’s mid-season transfer appeared in 12 CHA games this season, winning six of them. Small posted a conference-best 1.26 goals allowed average and a .949 save percentage to go with three shutouts in conference play.

Abby Moloughney was nominated for three awards and ended up winning the Individual Sportsmanship award, which she thought she’d “most likely” win. Moloughney was part of an Orange team that won the Team Sportsmanship award. Moloughney paced the team with 28 points and had no penalties during conference play, earning herself a spot on the All-Conference first team. 

“Just seeing that other people saw my hard work really meant a lot to me,” Moloughney said on March 3.

Fellow line-mate Savannah Rennie, who posted a career-best 21 points, was named to the All-Conference second team. 

Published on March 4, 2020 at 9:42 pm

Contact Gaurav: gshetty@syr.edu