The award will be given annually to a skater who consistently excels in defensive aspects of the game and displays strong play in all areas of the ice individually and as part of her team’s defensive tactics.
A fourth-year commerce student from Dunville, Blanche is part of a Huskies squad that finished first in the AUS regular-season standings. Saint Mary’s (18-3-3) boasted the lowest goals-against average in the conference at just 1.71 per game.
Blanche was selected as the winner of this award based upon criteria such as face-off success, blocked shots, forechecking, rush-zone defending, penalty killing and the ability to shut down the opposition’s top players.
Blanche recorded an assist and was plus two as Saint Mary’s began a best-of-three playoff semifinal with a 3-2 win over the University of Moncton Thursday night in Halifax. The other semifinal between the St. Thomas Tommies and St. Francis Xavier X-Women starts tonight in Fredericton, N.B.
Abby Clarke of Springdale is a goalie for the Tommies, while Brooke Noseworthy of St. Anthony is a forward for St. FX.
