4 hockey X-Women earn AUS 1st team all-star status

2008-09 AUS Women's Hockey All-Stars and All-Rookie Team Announced

March 4, 2009 (HALIFAX, NS) - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2008-09 women's hockey all-star teams and all-rookie team as selected by the conference's seven head coaches. The first place Moncton Aigles Bleues and second place StFX X-Women swept all the first team selections, including four X-Women being honoured.

StFX's Brayden Ferguson, the Atlantic conference's all-time scoring leader, is joined by teammates Christina Davis, Marilynn Hay and Laura Grant on this year's first team. Ferguson and Davis, both in their fifth and final year tied for third in league scoring this season with 33 points each, while Grant and Hay finished first and second in scoring among defensemen.

Ferguson, last year's CIS Player of the Year, wraps up her five-year career with the X-Women with 105 goals, 91 assists and 196 points in 100 career regular season games. She is the only AUS player to eclipse the career 100-goal plateau. Davis ends her tenure at StFX as the third leading point-getter in conference history including an AUS record 93 career assists.

Grant scored a goal and added a league-high 24 assists, while Hay scored twice and picked up 17 assists of her own for the X-Women.

Moncton forward Mariève Provost and second year goalie Kathy Desjardins round out the first team selections.

Provost, the 2006-07 Atlantic conference Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year, led the AUS in scoring for the second time in her three year career with 37 points in 19 games this season. In just three season, Mariève is already among the conference's all-time scoring leaders. In 60 career regular season games, Provost has scored 62 goals and 62 assists for 124 points, ranking her seventh in career points scored.

Desjardins, in just her second season, led the league in goals against average (1.51 GaAvg), save percentage (0.946) and wins with an impressive 17-2 record for the #7-ranked Aigles Bleues. Kathy, a member of last year's all-rookie team, also picked up two assists this season.

First team all-stars:
Forward - Mariève Provost, Moncton (3rd year - Laval, PQ)
Forward - Christina Davis, StFX (5th year - Stouffville, ON)
Forward - Brayden Ferguson, StFX (5th year - Toronto, ON)
Defence - Marilynn Hay, StFX (3rd year - Sombra, ON)
Defence - Laura Grant, StFX (4th year - Hamilton, ON)
Goalie - Kathy Desjardins, Moncton (2nd year - Loretteville, PQ)

Moncton, Dalhousie and St. Thomas each had two players named to the second team. Dalhousie forwards Jocelyn LeBlanc and Kim Carcary were selected, along with Moncton's Kristine LeBlanc and Geneviève David, along with Lucrece Nussbaum and first-year goalie Julia Sharun of the third place Tommies.

LeBlanc, in just her second year, finished second in league scoring to Provost with 34 points in 24 games. Jocelyn led the AUS with 21 goals, including a league-best five game-winning goals and eight power-play markers. She also had three hat-tricks.

Carcary, a fifth year forward with the Tigers, ends her career as the school's all-time leading scorer. Kim, an all-star for the first time, finished sixth in league scoring this year with 29 points and in 105 career games, she has racked up 54 goals and 68 assists for 122 points.

LaBrie, David, Holt and Sharun are all first time all-stars. LaBrie ranked fifth in league scoring with 32 points in 24 games, while David was third among blue-liners with 16 points in 24 games played.

Holt and Sharun were a part of a St. Thomas team that won a team record 14 games this season and earned a third place finish in the standings. Prior to this season the Tommies had finished no higher than fourth in league play.

Sharun had an outstanding freshman season, posting a 14-7 record and a 1.71 goals against average in 21 games played, including a pair of shutouts. Her 0.935 save percentage was second only to UdeM's Desjardins this season. Nussbaum, a third year blue-liner from Switzerland who has recently been a member of the Swiss National team, had eight points in 24 games this season for the Tommies.

Second team all-stars:
Forward - Jocelyn LeBlanc, Dalhousie (2nd year - Moncton, NB)
Forward - Kristine LaBrie, Moncton (3rd year - St. Quentin, NB)
Forward - Kim Carcary, Dalhousie (5th year - Newmarket, ON)
Defence - Geneviève David, Moncton (1st year - Acton Vale, PQ)
Defence - Lucrese Nussbaum, St. Thomas (3rd year - Weinfelden, Switzerland)
Goalie - Julia Sharun, St. Thomas (1st year - Edmonton, AB)

This year marks the third time for the selection of an all-rookie team in women's hockey. Among the first year players selected to the team are UPEI's Janelle Parent and Jamielynn Donaldson, StFX's Erin Brophy and Kayla Blackmore of the St. Thomas Tommies. Second team all-stars Geneviève David of Moncton and Julia Sharun of St. Thomas also were named to the team.

All-rookie team:
Forward - Janelle Parent, UPEI (Ponoka, AB)
Forward - Kayla Blackmore, St. Thomas (Fredericton, NB)
Forward - Erin Brophy, StFX (Antigonish, NS)
Defence - Jamielynn Donaldson, UPEI (Charlottetown, PE)
Defence - Geneviève David, Moncton (Acton Vale, PQ)
Goalie - Julia Sharun, St. Thomas (Edmonton, AB)

The 2009 Subway Atlantic University Sport Women's Hockey Championship will be hosted by the University of Prince Edward Island, March 6-8, 2009.

The championship schedule is as follows:

Friday, March 6th
Quarter-final #1: Dalhousie (4th) vs. Saint Mary's (5th), 4:00pm
Quarter-final #2: St. Thomas (3rd) vs. UPEI (6th), 7:00pm

Saturday, March 7th
Semi-final #1: Moncton (1st) vs. Lowest Remaining Seed, 3:00pm
Semi-final #2: StFX (2nd) vs. Highest Remaining Seed, 6:00pm

Sunday, March 8th
Championship Game: Semi-final Winners, 2:00pm

Two Atlantic University Sport teams will advance to the 2009 CIS Championship, March 19-22, 2009, hosted by StFX University. If StFX wins the Atlantic University Sport Championship, the runner-up will also qualify for the CIS Championship.

For more information on the 2009 Subway AUS Women's Hockey Championship, visit the event website at http://www.upei.ca/athletics/womens-hockey/notice/2009/subway-aus-womens-hockey-march-6-8-2009.

For further information, please visit www.atlanticuniversitysport.com