Let’s Play Hockey Announced five finalists for the Senior Defenseman of the Year Award. The award is new this season and helps identify some of the top players in the state who aren’t always on the scoring sheet, but help keep opponents off of it.
The spirit of the award is to honor the state’s all-around top player at the defense position. This is a player who possesses a strong defensive skill set that helps their team achieve success on both ends of the ice.
This year’s finalists are Katie Ball of Centennial/SLP, Mia Miller of Northfield, Katya Sander of Holy Family, Reese Ruska of St. Cloud, and Alexa Van Straaten of Dodge County. Both Miller and Sander played on Team USA’s U18 squad who won gold earlier this season. Van Straaten was a member of last year’s Class A state championship team for Dodge County, and Ball helped lead Centennial/SLP to a No. 1 ranking at times this season and back to the state tournament. Ruska helped lead St. Cloud to their first state tournament in program history.
Four of the five are currently committed to play hockey in college. Miller is slated to play at MSU-Mankato, Sander is committed to the University of Minnesota, Van Straaten to Assumption University, and Ball to the University of the Wisconsin-River Falls.
The award was created to help recognize players at the defense position. While defensemen are eligible for the Ms. Hockey Award, adding the Senior Defenseman of the Year Award helps recognize more players who excel on the blue line.
“The MGHCA supports and is looking forward to recognizing players for their contributions to their teams that may not show up every day on the scoresheet,” said MGCHA Executive Director Tim Morris. “As veteran hockey coaches know, having players who can control their defensive zone while providing an offensive stimulus every now and then are invaluable to the overall success of the team.”
The winner will be decided by a panel of high school hockey coaches and announced Sunday at the annual Ms. Hockey Banquet.
