WAKEFIELD, Mass. - Princeton senior Carly Bullock (Eden Prarie, Minn.) has been named the Women's Hockey Commissioners Association (WHCA) Player of the Month after leading the Tigers to a 7-2 mark in February.
Bullock found a scoring touch this month, leading the nation with 13 goals in just nine games played. She also added five assists, giving her an average of two points per-game (18). In the ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series against Quinnipiac, the senior was particularly impressive, registering four points (3g, 1a) in the final two games of February.
The Tiger forward has been a key part of Princeton's historic 2019-20 campaign, helping the team to a program record 24 wins. She ranks third in the league, and eighth in the country with 51 points (1.65 per game).
Maine's Ida Kuoppala (Pedersore, Finland) is tabbed Women's Hockey Commissioners Association Rookie of the Month after earning the same accolade from Hockey East for the second time in 2020 for her help in guiding the Black Bears to the Hockey East semifinals. Kuoppala led all league freshmen with five goals and nine points. The Black Bears' first-year forward led all league rookies in goals (5), points (9), points per game (1.12), shots on goal (44), and shots on goal per game (5.50) during the month of February. She recored at least one point in seven of her eight outings, including a two-point outing that saw her tally the game-winning goal in double overtime to lift seventh-seed Maine over second-seed Boston University on the road
On Wednesday (March 4), Kuoppala was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team as one of only two unanimous selections, as voted by the league's 10 head coaches.
New Hampshire goaltender Ava Boutilier (Charlottetown, P.E.I.) returned from injury to play a crucial role in backboning the Wildcats to their first appearance in the Hockey East semifinals since 2010.
Boutilier's .969 save percentage was tops among all NCAA goaltenders who played at least 75% of their team's minutes in February, while her 0.99 goals against average was second in the country.
The redshirt sophomore led all league goaltenders in goals against average (0.99) and save percentage (.969), allowing just seven goals and making 214 saves, second-most in Hockey East during the month.
Her two shutouts tied for the league lead, including a 35-save blank sheet on the road in the Hockey East Quarterfinals to lift #6 New Hampshire into the semifinals.
