Falcon Sports Archive

Seven members of the UW-River Falls men's hockey team have been named to the 2003 All-NCHA teams. Steve Freeman was named the Coach of the Year.

Named to the first team were goalie Jacque Vezina (Sr., Hudson, Wis.), defenseman Adam Kragthorpe (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) and forward Evan Stensrud (Sr., Minnetonka, Minn.) Defensemen Mike Salmela (So., Duluth, Minn.) and Marc-Andre Lalande (So., Deux-Montagnes, Que.) and forwards Rob Novak (Jr., Hayward, Wis.) and Jim Murphy (Jr., St. Paul, Minn.) all received honorable mention.

Vezina, who was named to the first team in 2001 and given honorable mention in 2000 and 2002, has a 1.70 goals against average and a .932 saves percentage. He has a 9-4-1 record and has recorded three shuouts. Vezina set a school record for career shutouts with nine. He led all NCHA goalies in goals against average and saves percentage.

Kragthorpe, who was named to the first team in all three of his previous seasons, has four goals and 11 assists for 15 points. He has scored three power-play goals. He is the only player named to this year's team who has been named to the first team all four years of his career. Stensrud, who was given honorable mention to the 2001 team, is the team's leading scorer with 39 points. He has scored 12 goals and a team high 27 assists. He has three power-play goals and one game-winner.

Murphy is second on the team with 33 points. He has scored 14 goals and 19 assists. He leads the team with eight power-play goals and five game-winners. Salmela is the top scoring defenseman for the Falcons. He has three goals and 17 assists for 20 points. He has one power-play goal and two game-winners. Lalande has scored four goals and has nine assists for 13 points. He has one power-play goal. Novak, who was given honorable mention to the 2002 team, is tied for fifth on the team in scoring with 10 goals and 17 assists for 27 points. He has one power-play goal and one game-winner.

Freeman led the Falcons to a 22-6-1 overall record. The Falcons placed in a tie for second place in the NCHA. Freeman was also named the NCHA Coach of the Year in 1999.

Ten Falcons were named to the NCHA All-Academic team announced by the league. John Conboy (Jr., Silver Bay, Minn.), Joe Dustin (Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn.), Matt Elsen (Jr., Richfield, Minn), Nate Kotewa (Sr., Fairmont, Minn.), Adam Kragthorpe, Josh Magnuson (So., Chisago City, Minn.), Jim Murphy, Rob Novak, Jamie Steinert (Jr., Maple Grove, Minn.) and Jacque Vezina all were named to the team. Conboy, Dustin, Elsen, Novak and Steinert were all named for the second straight year. To be named to the team a player must have a cummulative 3.00 grade point average, have earned at least 50 semester or 75 quarter hours, and be recommended by his head coach.