Canadian Sarah Vaillancourt wins prestigious NCAA hockey award

Sarah Vaillancourt of Sherbrooke, Que., won the 2008 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner on Friday. The award is presented annually by The USA Hockey Foundation to the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey.Vaillancourt, a junior forward from Harvard University, was chosen from a group of three finalists that also included fellow Canadian Meghan Agosta of Ruthven, Ont., a sophomore forward from Mercyhurst College, and Kim Martin of Sweden, a sophomore goaltender from the University of Minnesota Duluth.

"Sarah is the most significant reason our team had the success that it did this season," said Harvard Head Coach Katey Stone. "I have never had a harder working player since I’ve been at Harvard. Her vision of the game far exceeds that of her peers."

Vaillancourt, who was a top-10 finalist for the Kazmaier Award in 2007, powered Harvard to one of its best seasons on record. She led the Crimson to 32 wins and the top seed in the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four, where the team suffered just its second loss of the season in the national semifinal.

In leading Harvard with 62 overall points (26-36), she helped the team to an undefeated 26-0-0 record in ECAC Hockey play to capture both the regular-season and playoff championships. She paced the conference with 40 points, 18 goals, 22 assists and 20 power-play points (6-14) and was named both the ECACH and Ivy League Player of the Year.

-with a report from CP