WAKEFIELD, Mass. – Senior forward Olivia Kilberg won the Sportsmanship Award and first-year goaltender Jessie McPherson was named to the Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team as Hockey East began their season-long award announcements Friday afternoon.

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"It's always great to see players on your team recognized by the other league coaches for their impact," said Head Coach Jim Plumer. "Olivia has been such a valuable penalty killer for us for her entire career and one of the best aspects of that for us is that she is always available. Olivia hasn't had a single penalty for the past three seasons. Jessie has brought a fiery competitive spirit to our team and it has raised the level of play for our entire goaltending corps.  She has had an outstanding rookie year and has been a key component to our success this season."
 
Kilberg was awarded the conference's sportsmanship award after playing 115 games for the Catamounts and committing just three penalties over four years. She had six penalty minutes as a first-year and has committed no infractions over the last three seasons.
 
McPherson was named to Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team after a standout first-year season for the Catamounts. She finished the regular season with a .938 save-percentage and a 1.57 goals-against average. Her goals-against average was eighth best in the NCAA. She posted back-to-back shutouts over Holy Cross and UConn to start her collegiate career. She was named the Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week on January 11 and the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week on January 5. She was also named to the watch list for the inaugural Women's Hockey Goalie of the Year Award, as announced by the Women's Hockey Commissioners Association.
 
Hockey East will announce the 2020-21 All-Star Teams tomorrow, Saturday, February 27 at 11:00 a.m. ahead of the quarterfinals on Sunday. The league will then announce finalists for the Player, Rookie, and Coach of the Year awards on Monday, March 1 at 1:00 p.m.
The winners of those awards will then be revealed prior to the semifinals on Wednesday, March 3.
 
HOCKEY EAST SEASON-LONG AWARDS
Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team
G: Tia Chan, UConn
G: Jessie McPherson, Vermont
D: Brooke Becker, Providence
D: Claire Tyo, Providence
F: Jada Habisch, UConn
F: Nicole Kelly, New Hampshire
F: Gaby Roy, Boston College
F: Millie Sirum, Holy Cross
 
Sportsmanship Award
Olivia Kilberg, Vermont
 
Best Defenseman Award
Skylar Fontaine, Northeastern
 
Best Defensive Forward Award
Lindsay Dumond, New Hampshire
 
Hockey East Scoring Champion
Alina Mueller, Northeastern 9 Gl, 22 Ast, 31 Pts
 
PNC Bank Three Stars Award
Aerin Frankel, Northeastern