The Western Collegiate Hockey Association Sterling Trophy Players of the Week for games played on Oct. 2-8 feature two players from Minnesota State University and one player apiece from the University of St. Thomas and St. Cloud State University.

Minnesota State's senior Jamie Nelson was named the WCHA Forward of the Week, while teammate junior Jayden Seifert was selected as the Defender of the Week.  The pair helped the Mavericks earn a weekend sweep at Sacred Heart on Oct. 6-7.  St. Cloud State senior Sanni Ahola earned her second Goaltender of the Week honor of the season this week after recording a 1-0 shutout victory at Mercyhurst on Oct. 7.  St. Thomas first year forward Ella Boerger completed the awards list by being named the WCHA Rookie of the Week thanks to her play in the Tommies' sweep at home on Oct. 6-7 against Lindenwood.

The WCHA, which is celebrating its 25th season of women's hockey competition in 2023-24, will open conference play this weekend.  Minnesota State and Wisconsin will open the league schedule with a game at La Bahn Arena in Madison on Thursday, Oct. 12 at 7:00 p.m. (CT).  The two teams will then complete their series at Wisconsin with a 7:00 p.m. (CT) game on Friday, Oct. 13.  

Other weekend series include Ohio State at Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota vs. St. Thomas and Bemidji State at St. Cloud State.  Of note, Minnesota and St. Thomas will face each other at the home of the Minnesota Wild - Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul at 4:00 p.m. (CT) on Friday, Oct. 13.
 
Sterling Trophy WCHA Forward of the Week
Jamie Nelson/Senior/Andover, Minn.
In a weekend sweep at Sacred Heart to open the 2023-24 season, Minnesota State's Jamie Nelson scored two goals and had three assists in the Mavericks' 9-0 win on Oct. 6.  She had seven shots on goal along with two blocked shots and was +5 on the plus/minus.  To complete the weekend, Nelson scored two more goals in Minnesota State's 7-1 win over Sacred Heart on Oct. 7.  Nelson notched four shots on target in the game and had two blocks while adding to her stat list with a +2 on the plus/minus. Over the weekend, Nelson combined for four goals, three assists, seven points, 11 shots on goal and was +7 on the plus/minus in the two games.  She also had the game winning goal in both games. Minnesota State currently owns a 2-0-0 record in 2023-24.

Sterling Trophy WCHA Defender of the Week
Jayden Seifert/Junior/Farmington, Minn.
In a two-game series that saw Minnesota State allow just one goal and give up 33 shots combined in the two games, Jayden Seifert was a defensive leader for the Mavericks.  Seifert tallied two assists and was +4  in the Mavericks' 9-0 win on Oct. 6.  Seifert completed her weekend with an assist on Whitney Tuttle's goal to open the game's scoring on Oct. 7.  In the two games, Seifert had three assists, three points and was +4 on the plus/minus.

Sterling Trophy WCHA Goaltender of the Week
Sanni Ahola/Senior/Helsinki, Finland
In her second start of the season, Sanni Ahola charted her second consecutive shutout for St. Cloud State.  Ahola led SCSU to a 1-0 win at Mercyhurst on Oct. 7.  She turned away all 28 shots she faced against Mercyhurst on Saturday including 17 in a frenetic second period. The Huskies' netminder also turned away a handful of opponent rushes and played the puck well, earning her defense changes by being aggressive on the puck.  Ahola currently owns a 2-0 record this season with a perfect 1.000 goals against average in 119:47 minutes played.  She now has five career shutouts during her tenure in the Granite City.  SCSU owns a 3-1-0 record in 2023-24.

Sterling Trophy WCHA Rookie of the Week
Ella Boerger/Freshman/Andover, Minn.
Ella Boerger led the St. Thomas offense in its weekend sweep at home against Lindenwood on Oct. 6-7.  In the Tommies' 4-3 win over Lindenwood to open the series, Boerger scored two assists including the first assist on Rylee Bartz' game winning goal at 19:41 of the third period for UST.  Boerger also had eight shots on target, one blocked shot and was +2 in the game.  To complete the weekend, Boerger scored two goals and one assist in the Tommies' 7-2 win over Lindenwood on Oct. 7.  She had one power play goal and one even strength goal in the game along with six shots on net and a +1 rating.  On the weekend, Boerger scored two goals, three assists, five points and had 14 shots on goal.  She finished the two games with a +3 on the plus/minus and had one blocked shot to her credit on defense.  St. Thomas is 4-0-0 in 2023-24.

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2023-24 Sterling Trophy WCHA Players of the Week

Sept. 25: 
Forward - Emma Gentry, SCSU/Defender - Ella Anick, SCSU
Goalie - Sanni Ahola, SCSU/Rookie - Sofianna Sundelin, SCSU

Oct. 2: 
Forward - Lacey Eden, Wisconsin/Defender - Caroline Harvery, Wisconsin
Goalie - Raygan Kirk, Ohio State/Rookie - Cassie Hall, Wisconsin

Oct. 9:
Forward - Jamie Nelson, Minnesota State/Defender - Jayden Seifert, Minnesota State
Goalie - Sanni Ahola, St. Cloud State/Rookie - Ella Boerger, St. Thomas