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VIDEO: See the 2018 Top-3 Finalists In Action

03/16/2018, 2:45pm MDT
By USA Hockey

Bach, Gabel and Watts Up for 2018 Award

The 2018 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award finalists have plenty of highlight-reel goals and plays to go around. Prepare for this weekend's ceremony with some of their best moments in the videos below.

About the Finalists

Victoria Bach

Entering the NCAA tournament, Victoria Bach led the NCAA in goals per game (1.18), and was second in both goals (39) and points per game (2.03). A few season highlights include registering one goal and an assist in all three Hockey East quarterfinal games and tallying at least two points in all but three of the Terrier’s eight February match-ups. A unanimous Hockey East First Team All-Star, Bach was also selected as the Women’s Hockey Commissioners Association National College Player of the Month for November, and the Hockey East Player of the Month three times. She became the Terriers all-time career leader in goals and points in 2017-18 and factored in nearly 60 percent of the team’s goals this year. Bach was also the runner-up for Hockey East Player of the Year, landed first in the NCAA with four hat tricks and had 10 multi-goal games this season.

Loren Gabel

Loren Gabel, who led the ECAC in points during the regular-season, was third in the nation in points (73), goals (35), game-winning goals (7) and goals per game (.92) entering the NCAA playoffs. The Golden Knight set new single-season marks for points and goals at Clarkson in 2017-18, and recorded the fastest hat trick in program history, with three tallies in a 2:21 span against Yale in the ECAC quarterfinal round on Feb. 23, 2018. Gabel has also recorded a point in 31 of 38 games, and has 26 multi-point games this season. Gabel earned numerous honors this season, including Women’s Hockey Commissioners Association National Player of the Month, ECAC Hockey Player of the month three times, NCAA First Star of the Week twice, NCAA Third Star of the Week, and ECAC Hockey Player of the Week six times.

Daryl Watts

Daryl Watts was among the national leaders in nearly every statistical category entering the NCAA tournament. Her 82 points were seven better than her closest competitor and she tops the nation in points per game at 2.22. Watts led the country in goals with 42 heading into the NCAA playoffs, was tied for the lead in power-play goals (10), was second in goals per game (1.14), and third in the country in assists per game at 1.08. Watts was honored as the 2018 Hockey East Cammi Granato Player of the Year and unanimous selections for the Rookie of the Year, Hockey East First-Team All-Star, and All-Rookie Teams. She also earned the Hockey East Three Stars Award and was the WHEA scoring champion. In addition, Watts earned numerous other accolades throughout this year, including ACHA National Player of the Month and ACHA National Rookie of the Month honors.


About the Event

The 2018 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award will be presented at a brunch ceremony at McNamara Alumni Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday, March 17, as part of the NCAA Women's Frozen Four weekend hosted by the University of Minnesota..

The selection process commenced earlier this month when NCAA Division I women's ice hockey coaches were asked to nominate players for the award. Players who were nominated by multiple coaches were then placed on an official ballot, which was sent back to the coaches to vote for the top-10 finalists. The independent accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, tabulated the ballots.

The three finalists, including the recipient of the 2018 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, were then chosen by a 13-person selection committee made up of NCAA Division I women's ice hockey coaches, representatives of print and broadcast media, an at-large member and representative of USA Hockey, the national governing body for the sport of ice hockey in the United States. 

2018 Top-10 Finalists

2018 Patty Kaz News

Junior forward Abbey Murphy taps the gloves of her teammates after scoring in her white and maroon Minnesota jersey.

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