McDougall Named To Conference All-Rookie Team

The Atlantic Hockey Association announced today the 2018-19 conference All-Rookie Team. The team is made up of six players from four different teams, as both Holy Cross and Sacred Heart each have two representatives.

This year’s forwards are Ludwig Stenlund of Niagara, Austin Magera of Sacred Heart, and Anthony Vincent of Holy Cross.

Stenlund has played in all 37 games so far and is having a terrific season regardless of class, as his 19 regular season goals tied for the overall league-lead. He enters the quarterfinal round with 20 markers, ten of which have come on the power play, tied for the most in all of Division I. His 36 points is four more than any other freshman in the nation and just two behind the team-lead.

Magera is leading Sacred Heart with 13 goals and 25 points, the only Pioneer to reach double-digits in the goal-scoring category. He’s been their clutch scorer, as six of his tallies have gone as game-winners, tied for the most in Division I. He enters the quarterfinal round with a plus-4 rating.

Vincent finished his season tied for second on the Holy Cross scoring chart with 21 points, one shy of the team-lead. All 21 came in conference play, and his 16 assists topped the Crusaders. He was second on the team with a plus-4 rating.

The two defensemen named to the All-Rookie Team are Josh McDougall of Mercyhurst and Matt Slick of Holy Cross.

McDougall played in all 38 games for Mercyhurst, posting two goals and 11 assists. His goals came in big spots, as the first of his career came against nationally-ranked Notre Dame in just his second career game, and his final goal opened the scoring in game two of the Lakers’ first round series with Army.

Slick finished his season with a goal and four assists but had a plus-3 rating. He helped backstop a Crusaders team that ended the regular season 6-3-2 to become one of the hotter teams entering the tournament.

This year’s All-Rookie goalie is Josh Benson of Sacred Heart.

Benson has played in 22 of the Pioneers’ games this season, and his 2.37 goals against average is second in the conference. He also owns a 12-7-2 record for a .619 winning percentage, the best in the league by a wide margin. He started 19 consecutive games from November 30 to February 16, winning 11 of them, and solidified the number one duties for the fourth-seeded team in the conference tournament.

The Atlantic Hockey best-of-three quarterfinals begin tonight with Sacred Heart hosting RIT, while the remaining three series’ get under way Friday, March 15.