UMDBulldogs.com: HALEY IRWIN WCHA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR!!

IRWIN NAMED WCHA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR, JOINS MARTIN ON ALL-WCHA FIRST TEAM
TUOMINEN AND LAROCQUE LAND ON ALL-WCHA THIRD-TEAM

Last Updated: Wednesday, March 5, 2008 3:08 PM

Haley Irwin is now in some pretty elite company.

The freshman forward from Thunder Bay, Ontario was named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's Rookie of the Year Wednesday, a feat only one other University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey player has accomplished. Irwin joins Maria Rooth, the only Bulldog player ever to have had her jersey retired, as the program's other rookie to garner the honor. Rooth earned her first-year recognition during the 1999-2000 UMD season after scoring 68 points.

Irwin, who was also the WCHA's scoring champion with 43 points in league play, was joined on the All-WCHA First Team with sophomore goaltender Kim Martin.

The Stockholm, Sweden, native was an All-WCHA Second Team selection as a freshman, and holds the league's best save percentage (.946) and also posted a 1.48 goals against average. The Patty Kazmaier top-ten finalist picked up 21 wins in 25 WCHA outings, and helped UMD clinch its third conference title in school history.

Sophomore forward Saara Tuominen and freshman defenseman Jocelyne Larocque each earned spots on the All-WCHA Third Team. Tuominen, a resident of Ylojarvi, Finland, and a 2006-07 All-WCHA Rookie Team member, tallied 37 points (12g, 25a) in just 24 outings because of injury.

Larocque, a product of Winnipeg, Manitoba, ranks second on the Bulldog squad with a plus-minus rating of +34. The blueliner has recorded four goals and 18 assists for 22 points in her first year of collegiate action.

Both Irwin and Larocque were named to the All-WCHA Rookie Team in addition to their other honors.

The Bulldogs will gladly set all individual honors aside in their pursuit of their fourth WCHA playoff title this weekend. UMD will face St. Cloud State on Saturday at the DECC in the semifinal of the WCHA Final Face-Off. The game will get underway at 1:07 p.m.