BEVERLY, Mass. – Four members of the Endicott women's ice hockey team have earned Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) postseason honors, as announced by the league earlier today.
Michaela O'Brien (Pembroke, Mass.) highlighted the group by claiming CCC Scholar-Athlete honors in addition to All-CCC Second Team accolades.
O'Brien is now the second student-athlete in program history to receive the CCC Scholar-Athlete award joining Courtney Sullivan '22 (North Yarmouth, Maine) on the list.
Samantha Fantasia (Billerica, Mass.) also was selected to the All-CCC First Team, while Kat Keith (Westwood, Mass.) and Madison Hentosh (Peabody, Mass.) joined O'Brien on the All-CCC Second Team.
Along with their individual awards, the women's ice hockey program was bestowed with the Team Sportsmanship Award.
MICHAELA O'BRIEN | SR. | G
O'Brien currently sports a 3.97 cumulative grade point average (GPA) as a finance major.
Her academic awards include three CCC Academic All-Conference honors, three more American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) All-American Scholar accolades, and multiple Dean's List citations.
O'Brien is a Presidential Academic Scholarship award winner and a member of the Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society (business).
Meanwhile, her experiential learning opportunities include internships with Compass Packaging Solutions (semester-long), Callahan Construction Managers (accounting), and the Financial Planning Association (externship).
O'Brien also has served as a donation coordinator for the Huntington's Disease Society of America (HDSA) since 2016. She has participated in HDSA walks in Boston to raise awareness and build camaraderie within the organization, while personally raising over $1,000 for the cause as well.
On the ice, O'Brien compiled an 11-5-2 overall record (10-2-0 CCC), a 1.39 goals against average (GAA), a .941 save percentage, and 383 saves in 1,035:48 of action (18 GP | 18 GS).
O'Brien's CCC ranks include the following categories/stats: games played (4th), games started (4th), minutes (5th), goals against (24, 2nd), GAA (1st), saves (6th), save percentage (4th), wins (2nd), and winning percentage (.667, 1st).
Nationally (D3), O'Brien is positioned No. 10 in shutouts, No. 11 in GAA, No. 16 in save percentage, and No. 17 in winning percentage.
O'Brien is now a two-time All-Conference honoree (first team, 2021-22; Goaltender of the Year, 2021-22).
SAMANTHA FANTASIA | SO. | F
In 27 games played, Fantasia compiled 12 goals (3 PP, 3 GWG, 1 GTG, 1 EN) and seven assists for 19 points.
She also finished the year with a plus-8 rating.
Fantasia's CCC ranks include the following categories/stats: games (1st), goals (3rd), assists (24th), points (8th), +/- (21st), power play goals (4th), and game-winning goals (3rd).
This is Fantasia's first career All-Conference selection. She also was named the CCC Rookie of the Year last season.
KAT KEITH | SR. | F
Keith registered eight goals (3 GWG) and nine assists for 17 points and a plus-14 rating in 27 games played.
Her CCC ranks include the following categories/stats: games (1st), goals (7th), assists (12th), points (11th), +/- (6th), and game-winning goals (3rd).
This is Keith's first career All-Conference selection.
MADISON HENTOSH | SR. | D
In 26 games played, Hentosh scored one goal and dished out six assists to go along with a plus-14 rating (6th in CCC).
Hentosh's play also aided the Gulls in ranking third in the conference in GAA (1.76, 2nd in conference-only games at 1.27).
This is her first career All-Conference honor (2019-20 CHC All-Rookie Team).
Only four defensemen in total were selected among the first and second All-CCC Teams (two per team).
YEAR IN REVIEW
Endicott went 17-8-2 overall and 14-4-0 in conference play in 2022-23. The Gulls fell to first-seeded Suffolk in the CCC Championship, 2-1, ending their chances at completing a four-peat.
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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)
