ECAC Hockey has announced the recipients of the league’s major individual award winners for the 2022-23 season ahead of crowning the ECAC Hockey tournament champion this weekend in New Haven, Conn.
Awards were determined by a full nomination and voting process involving the league’s 12 head coaches.
ECAC Hockey Player of the Year & Forward of the Year: Danielle Serdachny, Colgate
In a season unlike any other for the Raiders, Colgate captain Danielle Serdachny brings home the highest individual honor for a league competitor: ECAC Hockey Player of the Year. After shattering the program record for overall single-season points (previously held at 55), Serdachny also broke the Raiders’ record for career points (previously held at 163). A formidable presence on the ice but a compassionate, resilient leader off of it, Serdachny earns her second ECAC Hockey player of the year award to cap off an unbeatable 2022-23 campaign.
ECAC Hockey Defender of the Year: Emma Seitz, Yale
Seitz takes home ECAC Hockey defender of the year for the second year in a row. Through 22 league contests this season, the senior put up nine goals and added six assists, finishing tied for third league-wide in scoring among blue liners. Seitz also put up an impressive 27 blocked shots during league play and has helped the Bulldogs maintain their league-leading 34 goals against. A three-time ECAC Hockey defender of the week (Nov. 29, Jan. 31, Feb. 7), Seitz has also been unstoppable offensively this season.
ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Year: Pia Dukaric, Yale
Slovenian sophomore Pia Dukaric earns ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Year in her first full season between the pipes for the Bulldogs. With the most playing time of all of the league’s goaltenders, Dukaric still finished second in save percentage (.928) and goals against average (1.49) in the league, earning 19 wins through 22 games and making 400 saves en route to five shutouts.
ECAC Hockey Co-Rookies of the Year: Jade Iginla, Brown & Jordan Ray, Yale
Brown freshman phenom Jade Iginla and unanimous ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team selection Jordan Ray have been crowned ECAC Hockey Co-Rookies of the Year.
In her first season at the collegiate level, Iginla led the Bears with 12 goals, tied for second in the league among rookies, and added 3 assists for a total of 15 points. Three of her tallies were scored shorthanded and two were scored on the power play, with one game-winner and one hat trick (Feb. 3) to boot.
Ray was also a top performer for the Bulldogs and led league rookies in scoring with 13 goals and 18 assists during league play for a total of 31 points. She finished the season with a plus-25 rating and had two game-winners, along with tallying her first career hat trick in a 10-1 win over Union on Feb. 3.
ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year: Mark Bolding, Yale
For the second straight season, Bolding has earned ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year honors. In just his third season at the helm of Yale women’s hockey, Mark Bolding has continued to push his team to be their best and stay on top of the league and at the national level. In 2022-23, Bolding coached the Bulldogs to an unprecedented 19-2-1 league finish and the program’s first ever ECAC Hockey regular season title. After helping the team to a berth in the 2022 Frozen Four, Bolding has sights set on the league championship before turning attention to the national playing field.
First Team All-ECAC
Danielle Serdachny F Colgate Sr.
Elle Hartje F Yale Jr.
Gillis Frechette F Cornell Sr.
Emma Seitz D Yale Sr.
Sydney Bard D Colgate Sr.
Pia Dukaric G Yale So.
Second Team All-ECAC
Julia Gosling F St. Lawrence Jr.
Olivia Mobley F Quinnipiac Jr.
Izzy Daniel F Cornell Jr.
Kendall Cooper D Quinnipiac Jr.
Nicole Gosling D Clarkson Jr.
Hannah Murphy G Colgate So.
Third Team All-ECAC
Kristýna Kaltounková F Colgate Jr.
Claire Dalton F Yale Sr.
Gabrielle David F Clarkson Sr.
Allyson Simpson D Colgate Sr.
Haley Winn D Clarkson So.
Amanda Rampado G Rensselaer Sr.
ECAC All-Rookie Team
Jordan Ray F Yale Fr.
Jade Iginla F Brown Fr.
Elyssa Biederman F Colgate Fr.
Grace Dwyer D Cornell Fr.
Alyssa Regalado D Cornell Fr.
Taylor Hyland G Princeton Fr.
In addition, Serdachny has been named the winner of the inaugural Wayne Dean Sportsmanship Award.
The award, announced in November 2022, is named in honor of the late Wayne Dean, the former Yale deputy director of athletics who played a significant role in the growth and success of ECAC Hockey and NCAA collegiate ice hockey. Beginning this year, the award will annually honor an ECAC Hockey student-athlete (men’s or women’s) who demonstrates the highest level of integrity and sportsmanship; displays the utmost respect for student-athletes, coaches, administrators, and officials, as well as the game/sport; and encourages all individuals to demonstrate good sportsmanship and ethical conduct inside and outside of the competition setting.
Serdachny, the award’s first winner, has long been praised for her excellence and leadership on and off the ice, earning a reputation for honesty, intensity, and respect for the game. A two-year captain at Colgate, Serdachny has been involved in the Hamilton community since she stepped foot on campus as a freshman in 2019-20 and has made it her mission to give back not only to the community that has watched her grow into the accomplished player she is today, but to the game of hockey as well.
On the ice, Serdachny has impressed her competition, her teammates, her coaches, and her fans for years. In 2019, she won a gold medal with Canada’s U-18 team and recently earned her first selection to the Canadian women’s senior national team this fall when she represented her country in the 2022-23 Rivalry Series in December.
In her four years as a Raider, she has set and broken records, currently holding the single-season assists record (set in 2021-22, with 38, and again set in 2022-23 with 43), the single-season points record (set in 2022-23, currently at 65), and the career points record (set in 2022-23, currently at 172). She is a two-time ECAC Hockey forward and player of the year (2020-21 and 2022-23), and most recently led the Raiders to back-to-back ECAC Hockey tournament championships (2021 and 2022).
Also a co-founder and mentor for Rising Raiders, Colgate’s mentorship program for young female hockey players in New York, Serdachny has been committed to giving back to and supporting Hamilton in the same way the community has supported her and her teammates. She has helped organize inclusive learn-to-skate events, participated in Skate with the Raiders events, and volunteered with community initiatives to help clean up Hamilton.
“She leads our team in a very respectful and caring manner, supporting [her] teammates to help them be the best they can be,” said Colgate coach Greg Fargo. “She has been seen assisting children, individuals with disabilities, and aspiring young players with their skating or their game on numerous occasions, demonstrating [her] understanding that she has a responsibility to grow the game and give back.”
ECAC Hockey has also named the 2023 Mandi Schwartz scholar-athlete of the year, honoring Seitz for her excellence and leadership on the ice, in the classroom, and in the community.
The award is annually presented to an ECAC Hockey female student-athlete in honor of the late Mandi Schwartz, a Yale women’s hockey alum whose battle with cancer continues to inspire and empower the entire hockey community. Seitz is the fifth Bulldog to win the award, following Lucy Burton (2020), Alyssa Zupon (2013), Aleca Hughes (2012), and Jackee Snikeris (2011).
Seitz has not only been a part of a history-making Yale women’s hockey program but played an integral role in the team’s transformation into a national contender, establishing winning records in the regular season and making their first ever national tournament berth in 2021-22, winning all the way to the Frozen Four. For her hard work over the past four years, Seitz has been awarded First Team All-ECAC (2021-22 and 2022-23), Second Team All-American (2021-22), and Second Team All-ECAC (2019-20).
As outstanding as she is on the ice, Seitz is also deserving of recognition for her efforts in the classroom and in the community, where she has worked just as hard and stood out just as brilliantly as she has during game play.
As a senior pursuing her bachelor’s degree in economics, Seitz has demonstrated what Bolding describes as “outstanding academic aptitude and drive,” and maintained a 3.70 cumulative grade point average through seven semesters. During the 2021-22 academic year, Seitz was a part of the student organizing committee for Yale’s International Indonesia Forum Conference and was awarded a grant to study in Indonesia by the Yale Council on Southeast Asia Studies during the summer of 2022.
Dr. Dinny Risri Aletheiani, who serves on Yale’s Council on Southeast Asia Studies and has taught and advised Seitz for three and a half years now, describes the senior blue liner as “modest, independent, and adaptable,” and commends her for her “discipline, focus, excitement, and openness to learning.” Dr. Aletheiani also advised and worked closely with Seitz during her summer intensive study of Indonesian language and culture and her community and volunteering activities in Lombok this past summer.
Seitz has also demonstrated a devotion to serving others in the New Haven community. She is actively involved as co-director of the No Closed Doors initiative, a volunteer-run agency committed to providing professional assistance to un- and underemployed New Haven residents. Seitz has also been active on campus, serving as the Yale women’s hockey team representative on the Yale Women’s Athletics Council and mentoring high school students interested in pursuing finance/economics careers through Females for Finance.
“Emma is truly a consistent and selfless leader who is so much more than an All-American hockey player,” said Bolding. “She is a devoted and sincere young adult with the motivation and willingness to help others. I am honored to be her coach and know she is a true leader in the making for our country.”
