UConn women's hockey wins three major Hockey East awards

UConn women’s hockey claimed three yearly Hockey East honors this season. Chris MacKenzie repeated as the league’s coach of the year, Tia Chan brought home goaltender of the year and forward Claire Murdoch earned the rookie of the year award.

MacKenzie guided the Huskies to their second straight Hockey East regular season title despite losing significant contributors from last year’s team. They went a perfect 14-0-1 against teams that finished 6-10 in the standings and then swept BU in the final series of the year when they needed all six points to take the league crown.

"This award is a reflection of the hard work our coaching staff, support staff and players put into this season," MacKenzie said in a release. "Thank you to the league coaches for recognizing our program."

Meanwhile, Chan has been a brick wall in net this season, putting up a league-best 1.36 goals against average and .949 save percentage in Hockey East action. Overall, she owns a 1.47 GAA and .947 save percentage, both of which rank in the top 10 nationally. Chan is the third UConn player to win the award, joining Elaine Chuli (2015-16) and Annie Belanger (2017-18). She was also named a Hockey East First Team All-Star.

Despite arriving in Storrs back in 2020, Chan will return to the Huskies next season. Not only did she get a bonus year of eligibility from the Covid-impacted 2020-21 campaign, she received a redshirt after sitting out the 2021-22 season to play in the 2022 Beijing Olympics with China.

“Tia is returning next year,” MacKenzie said. “I'm sure the league would love to know that.”

As for Murdoch, she leads UConn with 29 points — second-most by a freshman under MacKenzie — and has a team-best +19 mark on the year. She ranks second on the squad in shots (102), power play goals (3) and game winning goals (3) while avoiding the penalty box entirely with zero penalties so far. Murdoch’s 12 goals and 24 points in Hockey East play were both tops among the league’s freshmen.

She’s the second player in program history to be named Hockey East Rookie of the Year alongside Jaclyn Hawkins (2004-05).

"A tremendous recognition for a player who made an instant impact as a freshman within our program," MacKenzie said in a statement. "Claire has a strong hockey IQ, tremendous work ethic, and is driven to be the best version of herself on and off the ice."

Murdoch also received Hockey East Second Team All-Star and Hockey East All-Rookie Team nods.

Elsewhere, senior defender Ava Rinker joined Chan as a Hockey East First Team All-Star after putting up a career-high 17 assists to go with three goals. Jada Habisch and Ashley Allard both received Hockey East Third Team All-Star honors. Habisch recorded a team-high 14 goals to go with six assists for a 20-point season while Allard notched seven goals and 17 assists while winning 60.5 percent of face-offs.

Overall, UConn landed a program record five players on all-league teams.