Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Koelzer Named a Patty Kazmaier Finalist
February 23, 2017 | Women's Ice Hockey
The Patty Kazmaier Award recognizes the accomplishments of the most outstanding player in women's collegiate varsity ice hockey each season. The award, which is presented annually by the USA Hockey Foundation, will be presented on Saturday, March 18 at the Foundry Arts Centre (St. Charles, Mo.), and will be held in conjunction with the 2017 NCAA Women's Frozen Four, to take place on March 17 and 19 at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.
A native of Horsham, Pa., Koelzer is second nationally in points per game by a defender, averaging 0.97 ppg. She has scored seven goals and 21 assists for 28 points, which ranks her 35th in the nation in scoring overall and 15th in assists per game. Koelzer has stopped 52 blocks and has a +17 on-ice rating. She tallied her second career hat trick this season, along with two-game winning goals and one short-handed goal as she plays on both the penalty kill and power play units. Koelzer is three points away from her 100th career point, as she enters the ECAC playoffs with 38 goals and 59 assists for 97 career points.
Last year, along with being a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier, she was named first-team All-America, was the first overall pick in the 2016 National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) Draft, and was named to the USA Under-22 Select Team in August. She was the ECAC Defender of the Year in 2016 and is a finalist for the award again this season. In addition to being the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2016 she was a first-team selection in both the Ivy League and ECAC and a member of both All-Academic teams.
Koelzer is the fifth Tiger to be named a candidate for the award, and the third to be considered twice. She joins Kim Pearce (2006), Gretchen Anderson (2004), Andrea Kilbourne (2001, 2003) and Ali Coughlin (1998, 1999).
The award is named in honor of the late Patty Kazmaier, who was a four-year varsity letterwinner and All-Ivy League defenseman at Princeton from 1981-86. An accomplished athlete who helped lead the Tigers to the Ivy League Championship in three consecutive seasons (1981-84), Patty Kazmaier-Sandt died on Feb. 15, 1990 at the age of 28 following a long struggle with a rare blood disease.
The 2017 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Top 10: Senior goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens (La Malbaie, Que./University of Wisconsin), junior defenseman Megan Keller (Farmington Hills, Mich./Boston College), senior defenseman Kelsey Koelzer (Horsham, Pa./Princeton University), junior forward Kennedy Marchment (Courtice, Ont./St. Lawrence University), senior forward Cayley Mercer (Exeter, Ont./Clarkson University), junior forward Annie Pankowski (Laguna Hills, Calif./University of Wisconsin), junior forward Kelly Pannek (Plymouth, Minn./University of Minnesota), sophomore forward Sarah Potomak (Aldergrove, B.C./University of Minnesota), senior forward Lara Stalder (Luzern, Switzerland/University of Minnesota Duluth) and senior forward Brooke Webster (Aurora, Ont./St. Lawrence University).