WAKEFIELD, Mass. – Wednesday afternoon Hockey East announced its 2020-21 major award winners and first-year goaltender Jessie McPherson became the first-ever Catamount to be named Pro Ambitions Hockey East Rookie of the Year.
 
RELATED LINKS
Hockey East Release
VIDEO: Hockey East Rookie of the Year Finalists
 
"This is a fantastic honor for Jessie and our program," said Head Coach Jim Plumer. "Even though it was a short season, Jessie made a tremendous impact for us and I am so grateful that my fellow coaches in Hockey East recognized her for her outstanding play. As I have said before, Jessie's competitive nature shows every day in practice and she brings that same demeanor to the way she plays in games. She is in the history books as our first winner of this award and I can't wait to see what Jessie accomplishes during the rest of her career at UVM."
 
McPherson started in seven of Vermont's 11 games in 2020-21, posting a 1.57 goals against average, .938 save percentage, and three shutouts. Her goals-against average was eighth-best in the NCAA. On January 1, she became just the first freshman goaltender to earn a shutout in her debut for Vermont since 2014 in a 17-save shutout. McPherson then posted a second shutout in as many career starts with a 26-save road performance at UConn en route to beginning her time in a Catamount uniform with a 4-0-0 record. Her three shutouts were second-best in the nation among all rookie goaltenders, while her .938 ranked second and her 1.57 goals-against average was fourth. She backboned Vermont to the fourth seed in the Hockey East Tournament, the Catamounts' best performance since 2014.
 
She also earned 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 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. Last week, she earned a spot on the 2020-21 Pro
Ambitions All-Rookie Team.
 
HOCKEY EAST 2020-21 MAJOR AWARD WINNERS
Cammi Granato Award as Hockey East Co-Players of the Year
Aerin Frankel – G, Alina Mueller – F: Northeastern University
 
Hockey East Coach of the Year
Dave Flint: Northeastern University
 
Pro Ambitions Hockey East Rookie of the Year
Jessie McPherson: University of Vermont