The Western Collegiate Hockey Association, which is celebrating its 25th season of women’s hockey competition in 2023-24, announced on Monday, Dec. 11 its Sterling Trophy Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Players of the Week honors for games played during the week of Dec. 4 through Dec. 10.  

This week’s league award winners included Wisconsin’s Kirsten Simms (Forward), Ohio State’s Cayla Barnes (Defender), Bemidji State’s Eva Filippova (Goaltender) and St. Thomas’ Ella Boerger (Rookie).

The league will take a break for the holidays and teams will return to play on Dec. 29-30 with Bemidji State playing in the Battle at the Burgh tournament in Pittsburgh that will also feature Robert Morris, #4 Colgate and Maine. On Jan. 5-6, WCHA teams will face more non-conference foes including #6 Minnesota Duluth at #8 Quinnipiac, #11 Connecticut at #2 Minnesota, Lindenwood at Minnesota State and Merrimack at #3 Wisconsin.  On Jan. 6, St. Thomas will play an exhibition game at #7 St. Cloud State.  WCHA teams will then return to league play with games on Jan. 12-14.

Sterling Trophy WCHA Forward of the Week:
Kirsten Simms/Wisconsin/Forward/Sophomore/Plymouth, Mich.
Kirsten Simms tallied four points in the #3 Badgers’ weekend split against #2 ranked Minnesota on Dec. 8-9. She had two goals and two assists along with eight shots and one power play goal against the Gophers.  Simms scored one goal, one assists and four shots in both games at Minnesota, which included a 5-3 loss on Dec. 8 and a 5-1 win on Dec. 9.  On the season, Simms now has 15 goals, 19 assists and 34 points.  Simms currently leads the nation in scoring with an average of 2.00 points per game.

Others Nominated: Jenna Buglioni, Ohio State; Taylor Nelson, Bemidji State; Abbey Murphy, Minnesota; and Avery Ferrell, St. Cloud State

Sterling Trophy WCHA Defender of the Week:
Cayla Barnes/Ohio State/Defense/Grad. Student/Eastvale, Calif.
Cayla Barnes helped lead the #1 Ohio State Buckeyes to a pair of league wins over Minnesota State on Dec. 9-10.  She posted an impressive +5 on the plus/minus in the two games combined and also led the Buckeyes with a +5 on the weekend and had one goal and two assists. Barnes tallied her fourth goal of the season in Ohio State’s 6-1 win over Minnesota State on Friday and added two assists in Saturday’s 4-1 win.  She led the team with five blocked shots on the weekend to help Ohio State hold the Mavericks 22 shots per game.  Barnes helped the Buckeye penalty kill finish 3-for-3 on the weekend and extended her point streak to seven games and recorded her fourth multi-point game of the season (2 assists) in game two. Of note, Barnes tied with teammate Hadley Hartmetz for most points by a WCHA defenseman last weekend and tied for highest plus-minus in the league.  On the season, Barnes has four goals and 12 assists for OSU.

Others Nominated: Riley Reeves, Bemidji State; Anna Wilgren, Wisconsin; Maggie Nicholson, Minnesota; and Taylor Larson, St. Cloud State

Sterling Trophy WCHA Goaltender of the Week:
Eva Filippova/Bemidji State/Goaltender/First Year/Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia
Eva Filippova recorded her first collegiate shutout on Dec. 9 to help the Beavers split their series with a 4-0 win at St. Thomas. She stopped all 35 shots she faced for the second most in her career including all 18 shots in the final period against UST. Filippova became the first BSU freshman goalie since Kerigan Dowhy (2017-18) to record a shutout.  Filippova currently owns a 2-3 record this season with a 3.29 GAA and a .903 save rate.

Others Nominated: Lucy Morgan, MInnesota; Sanni Ahola, St. Cloud State; Olivia King, St. Thomas; Ava McNaughton, Wisconsin and Raygan Kirk, Ohio State.

Sterling Trophy WCHA Rookie of the Week:
Ella Boerger/St. Thomas/Forward/First Year/Andover, Minn.
First year Ella Boerger helped the Tommies to a weekend split against Bemidji State. On Friday, Boerger scored two goals, including the game-winning goal, and tallied one assist -- totaling three points. This marked Boerger’s fourth three-point game of the season as St. Thomas won the game 4-2.  On Dec. 9, Boerger had four shots on target in the Tommies’ loss to BSU.  Over the weekend, Boerger had six shots on goal and was +1 on the plus/minus. Boerger continued to make an impact on the face-off circle as well, going 23-22 on the weekend. She leads St. Thomas this season with eight goals, 10 assists and 18 points.

Others Nominated:  Kate Johnson, Bemidji State; Joy Dunne, Ohio State, Ava McNaughton, Wisconsin; Ève Gascon Minnesota Duluth; Alice Sauriol, St. Cloud State

---

ABOUT THE WCHA:

Founded in 1999, the women’s league of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association has positioned itself as the top conference in all of women’s collegiate hockey and will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2023-24.  The WCHA has won an unprecedented 20 national championships while finishing as the national runner-up nine times since 1999.  The league has produced nine Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winners as well an additional 24 student-athletes who were among the Top-3 finalists for the award.  In addition, WCHA student-athletes have been recognized as All-Americans 121 times in league history.

ABOUT STERLING TROPHY:

Sterling Trophy has grown into a leader in the award and recognition industry in the Twin Cities since its founding in 1999. A family business that started in the basement of the home of founders David Steinbring and Patty Steinbring, Sterling Trophy has built a proud tradition of quality service and unique products. For more information, visit sterlingtrophy.net.

---

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

Oct. 16:
Forward - Abbey Murphy, Minnesota/Defender - Hadley Hartmetz, Ohio State
Goalie - Raygan Kirk, Ohio State/Rookie - Alice Sauriol, SCSU

Oct. 23:
Forward - Klára Hymlárová, SCSU/Defender - Anna Wilgren, Wisconsin
Goalie - Abbie Thompson, Bemidji State/Rookie - Ève Gascon Minnesota Duluth

Oct. 30:
Forward - Jennifer Gardiner, Ohio State/Defender - Nelli Laitinen, Minnesota
Goalie - Jojo Chobak, St. Cloud State/Rookie - Jocelyn Amos, Ohio State

Nov. 6:
Forward - Reece Hunt, Minnesota Duluth/Defender - Emma Peschel, Ohio State
Goalie - Eve Gascon, Minnesota Duluth/Rookie - Joy Dunne, Ohio State

Nov. 13:
Forward - Rylee Bartz, St. Thomas/Defender - Nicole Vallario, St. Thomas
Goalie - Calla Frank, St. Thomas/Rookie - Ella Boerger, St. Thomas

Nov. 20:
Forward - Jennifer Gardiner, Ohio State/Defender - Khloe Lund, Bemidji State
Goalie - Raygan Kirk, Ohio State/Rookie - Hailey Armstrong, Bemidji State

Nov. 27:
Forward - Abbey Murphy, Minnesota/Defender - Hadley Hartmetz, Ohio State
Goalie - Hailey MacLeod, Minnesota Duluth/Rookie - Jocelyn Amos, Ohio State

Dec. 4:
Forward - Abbey Murphy, Minnesota/Defender - Ida Karlsson, Minnesota Duluth
Goalie - Sanni Ahola, St. Cloud State/Rookie - Ava Lindsay, Minnesota

Dec. 11:
Forward - Kirsten Simms, Wisconsin/Defender - Cayla Barnes, Ohio State
Goalie - Eva Filippova, Bemidji State/Rookie - Ella Boerger, St. Thomas