The Western Collegiate Hockey Association, which is celebrating its 25th season of women’s hockey competition in 2023-24, announced on Monday, Jan. 29 its Sterling Trophy Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Players of the Week honors for games played during the week of Jan. 22 through Jan. 28.  

This week’s league award winners included Wisconsin’s Lacey Eden (Forward) and Jane Gervais (Goalie) and Bemidji State’s Makenna Deering (Defender) and Eva Filippova (Rookie).

The WCHA race continues to heat up and this upcoming weekend will feature four important league series.  #1 Ohio State will host Bemidji State, RV Minnesota State will play at #7 Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 2-3 and St. Thomas will play at #5 Minnesota on Feb. 2-3, while #2 Wisconsin will host #10 St. Cloud State on Feb. 3-4.  The MSU-UMD game and the UM-UST games on Feb. 3 will be aired live on FOX9+.  Fans can all view all of these WCHA games on the B1G+ at www.bigtenplus.com

Make plans now to attend the 2024 Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff tournament on March 8-9 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.  For complete ticket information, please visit www.wcha.com/finalfaceoff

Sterling Trophy WCHA Forward of the Week:
Lacey Eden/Wisconsin/Forward/Junior/Annapolis, Md.
For the second time this season, Wisconsin junior Lacey Eden has been selected as the WCHA Forward of the Week. Eden had a stellar weekend during the No. 2 Badgers’ sweep of No. 7 Minnesota Duluth, scoring three times while adding an assist to help UW extend its winning streak to nine games. Eden potted the game-winning goal early in the third period in Friday’s 2-1 win. Eden ignited the Badgers’ comeback in Saturday’s 5-4 triumph, scoring twice in the third period while adding an assist as UW came back from being down 4-1 in the final stanza to win. Eden’s four points and three goals were tied for the league lead while her two power-play goals and her 11 shots on goal paced the league outright. 

Others Nominated: Abbey Murphy, Minnesota; Kiara Zanon, Ohio State; Emma Gentry, St. Cloud State and Alyssa Watkins, Bemidji State

Sterling Trophy WCHA Defender of the Week:
Makenna Deering/Bemidji State/Defense/Junior/South St. Paul, Minn.
Junior Makenna Deering from Bemidji State earned WCHA Defender of the Week honors for the first time this year.  She helped the Beavers to four points against St. Thomas this weekend at Sanford Center by scoring the game-tying, extra-attacker goal in Friday’s 2-2 tie versus the Tommies. Deering led the team with eight shots on goal while tying for the team-high with four blocked shots. She had a +4 rating on the ice over the weekend to tie for the team-high.

Others Nominated: Nina Jobst-Smith, Minnesota Duluth; Hadley Hartmetz, Ohio State; Anna Wilgren, Wisconsin; Nelli Laitinen, Minnesota and Maddy Clough, St. Thomas

Sterling Trophy WCHA Goaltender of the Week:
Jane Gervais/Wisconsin/Goaltender/Junior/Valcourt, Quebec
Junior Jane Gervais stopped 20 of the 21 shots she faced to lead #2 Wisconsin to a 2-1 win on Friday at No. 7 UMD. Her .952 save percentage led all WCHA netminders while her 1.00 goals-against average ranked second among league goaltenders. She is a resident of Valcourt, Quebec.

Others Nominated: Eva Filippova, Bemdiji State; Amanda Thiele, Ohio State; Hailey MacLeod; Minnesota Duluth and Sanni Ahola, St. Cloud State

Sterling Trophy WCHA Rookie of the Week:
Eva Filippova/Bemidji State/Goaltender/First Year/Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia

Filippova the Beavers to a four-point weekend against St. Thomas by turning aside 57 of the 61 shots she faced. She posted a .934 save percentage and 1.94 goals against over the weekend to go 1-0-1. Filippova began the series by turning aside 29-of-31 shots in Friday’s 2-2 tie then followed by stopping 28-of-30 shots in Saturday’s 4-2 win.  This marks the second time in 2023-24 that Filippova has gained WCHA Player of the Week accolades.

Others Nominated:  Joy Dunne, Ohio State; Cassie Hall, Wisconsin; Emma Kreisz, Minnesota and Ida Karlsson, UMD

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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.

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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, MSU
Goalie - Sanni Ahola, St. Cloud State/Rookie - Ella Boerger, St. Thomas

Oct. 16:
Forward - Abbey Murphy, Minnesota/Defender - Hadley Hartmetz, OSU
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 UMD

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, OSU
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, BSU
Goalie - Raygan Kirk, Ohio State/Rookie - Hailey Armstrong, Bemidji State

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

Dec. 4:
Forward - Abbey Murphy, Minnesota/Defender - Ida Karlsson, UMD
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

Jan. 8: 
Forward - Britta Curl, UW/Defender - Charlotte Akervik, MSU
Goalie - Skylar Vettter, Minnesota/Rookie - Cassie Hall, Wisconsin

Jan. 15: 
Forward - Casey O’Brien, Wisconsin/Defender - Hanna Baskin, UMD
Goalie - Raygan Kirk, Ohio State/Rookie - Joy Dunne, Ohio State

Jan. 22: 
Forward - Casey O’Brien, Wisconsin/Defender - Khloe Lund, BSU
Goalie - Amanda Thiele, Ohio State/Rookie - Cassie Hall, Wisconsin

Jan. 29: 
Forward - Lacey Eden, Wisconsin/Defender - Makenna Deering, BSU
Goalie - Jane Gervais, Wisconsin/Rookie - Eva Filippova, BSU