Valente named Dutchwomen captain

by Ryan Fay

Junior forward Christine Valente was named the captain of next season's Union women's hockey team at the Dutchwomen's annual banquet on Saturday.

Valente

The former Choate Rosemary Hall standout will succeed current co-captains Ashley Johnston and Maddy Norton, both of whom are set to graduate in June.

"I am very excited to have Christine as our captain," said Dutchwomen head coach Claudia Asano Barcomb. "She has demonstrated great leadership skills on and off the ice and I look forward to her leadership next year."

Valente, the team's second-leading scorer this past season with five goals and 14 assists, is looking forward to serving as captain.

"I am honored to be named captain for the 2014-2015 season," said Valente. "We had our greatest success as a team this past year and we are excited to build off of that. Every player contributes something positive to this team and we all plan to make this upcoming season the best in the program's history. We are ready to work hard in order to obtain our goal of making the ECAC playoffs."

Valente, who led the team in shots on goal (83) and faceoff wins (205), also picked up the program's Unsung Hero Award.

Other award winners

Norton, a senior defenseman, won the Hana Yamashita Coaches Award. She led the team in assists (18) and points (21).

Junior goalie Shenae Lundberg and senior forward Stefanie Thomson shared the George Morrison MVP Award. Lundberg recorded at least 25 saves in 17 of her 32 starts and set a single season program record with nine wins. Thomson appeared in all 34 games and finished tied for the team lead in goals with 11.

Johnston captured the Ashley Kilstein Award for the second year in a row for her outstanding service to the community. The senior defenseman was a candidate for the Hockey Humanitarian Award and was one of four student-athletes selected to participate in the NCAA Final Four Innovation Summit.

Sophomore forward Jamie Smith earned the Most Improved Player of the Year Award. She collected a goal and four assists in 32 contests after being held off the scoresheet in six games as a freshman.

Freshman defenseman Kathryn Davis was named Rookie of the Year. The 19-year-old registered two goals and two assists in 33 games.

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