2015-16 MIAC WOMEN'S HOCKEY AWARDS

MINNEAPOLIS -- Seven Augsburg College women's hockey players earned honors from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for their performances this season, it was announced on Thursday by the league office.

Senior forward Kayla Fuechtmann (JR, Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial HS) was named the was named as the 2016 recipient of the Sheila Brown Award for women's hockey by the conference, honoring a senior women's hockey player who displayed excellence both on and off the ice. Fuechtmann is the third Augsburg women's hockey player to earn the Sheila Brown Award, joining Jess Olson (2009-10) and Tiffany Magnuson (2008-09).

Fuechtmann was also named as an All-MIAC recipient, joining Augsburg goalie Erika Allen (SR, Roseville, Minn.) and forward Callen Naasz (JR, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South HS). Defender Valerie Whichello (FY, Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge HS) was named to the MIAC All-Rookie Team and was an All-MIAC Honorable Mention honoree, joining Auggie defender Danielle Heitkamp (JR, Bismarck, N.D./Grand Rapids (Minn.) HS) and forward Megan Johnson (FY, Madison, Wis./Memorial HS). Defender Sarah Buckner (SR, Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) was named to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team.

Fuechtmann earned All-MIAC honors in 2013-14 and All-MIAC Honorable Mention honors last year. Allen was an All-MIAC Honorable-Mention selection last year as an Auggie, and a All-MIAC selection in 2013-14 and MIAC All-Rookie Team selection in 2012-13 while at Bethel. Naasz and Heitkamp earned All-MIAC Honorable Mention selections each of the last two seasons, along with MIAC All-Rookie Team honors in 2013-14. The MIAC honors are the first for Whichello, Johnson and Buckner.

Under sixth-year head coach Michelle McAteer, Augsburg qualified for the five-team MIAC postseason playoffs for the first time since the 2004-05 season, entering the postseason with a 13-9-3 overall record and 10-5-3 mark in league play. As the No. 3 seed in the playoffs, Augsburg will face No. 2 seed Bethel in the MIAC semifinals on Saturday (2/27) at 2 p.m. at the Schwan SuperRink in Blaine, Minn.
 

Fuechtmann earned the MIAC's Shelia Brown Award, named for Brown, the longtime athletic director at St. Catherine University who died from cancer in 2005. The award is given to a senior women's hockey player who has made a long-term contribution to her team's success and who has consistently competed with good sportsmanship. Recipients are chosen based on four criteria -- team leadership, sportsmanship and volunteer work, academic excellence and hockey skills/production. On the ice, Fuechtmann tied for the team's lead in scoring in the regular season, with 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points, including eight goals and seven points in league play. She currently is tied for ninth among MIAC players in overall statistics in points and tied for sixth in goals. This season, she had a goal or assist in 12 of Augsburg's 25 games, including two multiple-goal games and four multiple-point games. In 97 career games, she now has 38 goals and 24 assists for 62 points, standing eighth in school history in career points, fifth in career goals and 15th in career assists. Off the ice, Fuechtmann is a biology major with a 3.83 grade-point average. A multiple Academic All-MIAC and Dean's List honoree, Fuechtmann is a member of the Tri-Beta biology honor society, has served as a clinical research intern at the Mayo Clinic and has served as a research assistant in the Augsburg chemistry department.  A team captain, Fuechtmann has served as a volunteer for the Lupus 5K, Feed My Starving Children, Minnesota Special Olympics, Masonic Children's Hospital and the Minneapolis DinoMights youth hockey team.

In her second season at Augsburg after playing her first two years at Bethel, Allen has become one of the top goalies in the conference, finishing the regular season with an 11-8-3 record, 1.75 goals-against-average and .930 save percentage. She was 10-5-3 in league play with a .934 save percentage and 1.66 GAA. She ranks fifth among MIAC goalies in overall GAA and sixth in save percentage, and her 11 wins are third-most among conference goalies. She recorded five shutouts this season -- all in a seven-game span that helped propel the Auggies into the upper half of the league standings.  Including her first two seasons at Bethel (78 total games), she has a 39-27-9 career record with 14 shutouts, a 1.75 GAA and .932 save percentage, playing in 4,550:26 of game time. In her two Auggie seasons (41 games), she has a 17-15-8 record with eight shutouts, a .932 save percentage and 1.79 GAA. Her save percentage and GAA are both best in school history, while her eight shutouts are tied for the most in school history.

Naasz finished third on the team in scoring, with six goals and a team-high-tying 11 assists for 17 points. In league play, she recorded six goals and eight assists for 14 points. She is tied for sixth among MIAC players in overall statistics in assists and tied for 12th in points. She recorded a goal or assist in 13 of her 25 games, including three multiple-point games. In her 75-game collegiate career, she now has 19 goals and 29 assists for 48 points, ranking 12th in school history in total points, 14th in goals and 10th in assists.

Whichello finished her debut season as an Auggie with five goals and 10 assists for 15 points, tied for fourth on the team in total scoring. She had four goals and seven assists for 11 points in league play. She is tied for ninth among MIAC players in overall statistics in assists and tied for 17th in total points. Her 15 points were tops among MIAC defenders in the regular season, and among league rookies, she ranked fourth in points and tied for third in assists. She had a goal or assist in 12 of her 25 games, and carries a three-game point streak into the postseason.

Heitkamp recorded four goals and five assists for nine points in her junior regular-season campaign, including two goals and five assists for seven points in MIAC play. She recorded a goal or assist in nine games this season. A team co-captain, Heitkamp has recorded nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points in 75 career games.

Johnson had a strong rookie campaign, ending the regular season tied for the team lead in total points with 18 and goals with 11, while also adding seven assists. She had nine goals and four assists for 13 points in conference play. She tied for sixth in goals and ninth in points among MIAC players in overall statistics, while her eight power-play points (three goals, five assists) were tied for third-most. Among league rookies, she tied for second in points while leading in goals. She had a goal or assist in 13 of her 25 games, including five multiple-point games.  Johnson is the daughter of 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team member and current University of Wisconsin women's hockey coach Mark Johnson, and the brother of Chris Johnson '10, a two-time Division III All-American at Augsburg and current Auggie men's hockey assistant coach.

Buckner was named to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team, as part of the conference's sportsmanship initiative. Members of the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team are selected by their coaches and teammates as individuals who demonstrate ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field of competition. Buckner recorded a goal and six assists for seven points this season, fourth-best among Auggie defenders. She had a goal and three assists in MIAC play. In her 100-game Augsburg career, she has two goals and eight assists for 10 points. She is also a member of Augsburg's softball team.