Cheverie and Gwozdecky awarded with WCHA Honors
Goaltender Marc Cheverie was named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Player of the Year and head coach George Gwozdecky was named WCHA Coach of the Year.
In addition to the two top honors, DU landed three players on the All WCHA first team.
League scoring champion Rhett Rakhshani joined Cheverie and teammate Patrick Weircioch on the All WHCA first team.
It is the first time three Pioneers have earned first team honors since 1973 when four DU players were named to the first team.
Cheverie’s season included a 1.94 goals-against average and a 24-4-3 record-in-net, which helped him become a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.
Rakhshani also was named to the finalist list after he finished with 35 points, 15 goals and 20 assists, in 28 league games.
The WCHA Coach of the Year honor is the fourth for Gwozdecky, who coached the Pioneers to their 12th WCHA regular season championship. The team finished with an overall record of 27-7-4 before entering the NCAA Division I tournament last weekend.
Gwozdecky was previously awarded Coach of the Year honors in 1995, 2002 and 2005.
Senior forward Tyler Ruegsegger was named to the All WCHA second team while sophomore forward Joe Colborne finished as a member of the third team.
Culberson a finalist in today’s Jimmy V Award
Junior forward Brianna Culberson is one of nine finalists for the Jimmy V Foundation Comeback Award that will be presented tonight on ESPN.
Culberson was named a finalist on March 11 for an award that is annual given to men and women collegiate basketball student-athletes in all divisions who have accomplished a personal triumph in true adversity.
In her first two seasons at DU, Culberson battled with fainting spells, hypoglycemia and a knee injury. After returning from an injury in her first season, her father, Larry Culberson, suffered an unexpected seizure.
According to Denver athletics, Mr. Culberson recently was diagnosed with Leukemia, which has not been easy on Culberson. However, she performed consistently this past season, finishing in double figure in 21 of 22 games.
In addition to Culberson, the finalists include Georgia Tech’s D’Andre Bell, Youngstown State’s Dallas Blocker, San Diego State’s Kelvin Davis, Nebraksa’s Kelsey Griffin, Florida Athlantic’s Sanchez Hughley, Longwood’s Dana Pernell Smith II, Franciscan’s Thomas Kleinshcnitz and Waynesburg’s Kristen Lucci.
Bonin named SBC Tennis Player of the Week
Freshman Enej Bonin was honored as Sun Belt Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Week last week.
Bonin helped the Pioneers win big matches over Princeton and Central Florida on March 18 and 20, respectively.
In both contests Bonin posted single wins for DU.
In addition, Bonin’s play allowed the Pioneers to leap toward their program-best No. 25 national ranking last week.
Denver has seven wins over ranked teams this season, which has propelled their ranking.
Women’s soccer announces spring schedule
The women’s soccer team spring schedule was announced yesterday and it will include seven games.
The Pioneers have two home games slated against Air Force and Wyoming.
DU plays it’s home opener when Air Force travels to the University of Denver Soccer Stadium on Thursday afternoon for an in-state matchup.
Last Sunday, the Pioneers began their spring schedule when they traveled to Greeley, Colo. to play Northern Colorado and Regis in back-to-back games.
After the Air Force game, Denver will go back on the road to participate in the College Classic, which will be played in Temecula, Calif. on April 9.
The Pioneers first take on New Mexico at 8 p.m. on April 9 and continue tournament play on April 11 when they face San Diego.
DU concludes its spring schedule with it’s final home game against Wyoming on April 17 at 4 p.m.
The Pioneers enter their fall schedule as four time SBC defending champions, but are replacing five seniors who will graduate at the end of the year.
