The Takeaway: New program records, Hall of Fame inductees, and Hockey Humanitarian Award nominees

Robert Morris has a new all-time leading scorer; four women are nominees for the Hockey Humanitarian Award

In the latest edition of the The Takeaway, we’ve got notes on a new program record at Robert Morris, a rundown of the women’s Hockey Humanitarian Award nominees, some important coaching milestones, and more.

5 Things to Know

Jaycee Gebhard breaks the Robert Morris scoring record: After last weekend’s sweep against Lindenwood, Gebhard is officially the all-time leading scorer for the Colonials’ program. She had two goals and an assist on Saturday to reach 182 career points, beating the old record of 181, held by Brittany Howard.

Gebhard’s play over her career easily showed her to be a highly accomplished player that belongs in special company, but over the last two seasons she’s really shown what she can do herself. Howard was an offensive force for the Colonials, and her and Gebhard played together for two years before Howard graduated. Since then, though, Gebhard has only gotten better herself, scoring 99 points in 62 games. She is one of the most dominant players we’ve seen come through the CHA and now stands alone in the RMU record books.

Beanpot Hall of Fame inductees announced: The Class of 2020 Women’s Beanpot Hall of Fame inductees are: Joe Bertagna, Harvard ‘73; Casey Pickett Bates, Northeastern ‘13; Reagan Rust, Boston University ‘19; and Kelli Stack Jachym, Boston College ‘11.

Bertagna was Harvard’s inaugural head coach after he founded the Crimson women’s hockey program in 1977-78. Fun fact about his ties to the Beanpot tournament: he purchased the original Beanpot from an antique shop in 1977, thus creating the first Women’s Beanpot Trophy. Pickett Bates scored the overtime winner to help Northeastern secure the Beanpot title in 2012, and totaled eight points in eight career games.

Just last year, Rust sent BU to the championship with a wicked shootout goal, and all three of her career Beanpot points came in title games. She was a part of the Terriers’ first Beanpot champion squad since 1981. Stack Jachym needs no introduction; she won three Beanpots with the Eagles, scored 14 points in eight career games, and took home MVP honors in 2009.

Hockey Humanitarian Award nominees announced: Two weeks ago, the Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation announced the nominees for the 2020 award. Women’s players nominated include Saint Anselm senior Amanda Conger, UConn senior Catherine Crawley, Saint Mary’s sophomore Jordan Keeley, and Saint Mary’s junior Delaney Wolf.

Conger was nominated for donating her kidney to a man named Cameron Ouellette, who was diagnosed with stage five kidney disease. The transplant procedure took place this past summer, and Conger was able to make it back to full health in time to play in all 19 games so far this season.

Crawley was named the 2019 UConn Female Community Outreach Athlete of the Year thanks to her work organizing service projects for fellow student-athletes to partake in. She serves as an alternate captain for the Huskies, leads the team in assists with 11, and ranks second in points with 20.

Keeley is a regular volunteer for the Winona Area Humane Society, the Alma Tails of Hope Rescue, the Winona Youth Hockey Association, and various USA Hockey Try Hockey For Free events. She’s on her way to earning what will become the first Leadership degree at Saint Mary’s. Over the years, she’s donated her time and energy to benefit various charitable projects and organizations, and helped lead a Girls Empowerment Seminar last semester through the local YMCA.

Wolf is a captain for Saint Mary’s and has volunteered with youth hockey teams and at Intro to Hockey programs. She’s active with the Winona Area Humane Society and the Winona Community Warming Center, and works with residents at St. Anne’s Healthcare Facility. Wolf spoke at that same Girls Empowerment Seminar, and she’s also a founding member of the Outdoor Leadership Club on campus.

Coaching milestones: We’ve had a bunch of coaching milestones to recognize this season. Going back to November, Northeastern head coach Dave Flint picked up his 300th win as a college coach (with both Northeastern and Saint Anselm). Clarkson coach Matt Desrosiers won his 300th game back in December.

This month, BU bench boss Brian Durocher became the 15th Division I coach to win 300 games. A day later, Syracuse’s Paul Flanagan won his 400th game as head coach.

#ShelbyStrong: Former UND All-American goaltender and Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Top-10 Finalist Shelby Amsley-Benzie was struck by a bus a couple of weeks ago and suffered some significant injuries. Amsley-Benzie is currently a goalie coach with Concordia (Minn.). Earlier this week, she spoke to the Grand Forks Herald’s Brad Schlossman about the incident and her recovery.

Fellow UND alumni have set up a GoFundMe page, for anyone wishing to support Shelby in her recovery.

Top Performers

Gabbie Hughes, Sophomore, Forward, Minnesota Duluth: Hughes has nine points in her last four games off of two goals and seven assists. Last weekend, she scored the game-winner against SCSU in 3-on-3 overtime and then notched three assists the following afternoon.

Ella Shelton, Senior, Defender, Clarkson: Shelton scored two goals and an assist for the Golden Knights in a big 4-0 win over Harvard last Saturday.

Chloé Aurard, Sophomore, Forward, Northeastern: Aurard posted a hat trick and four points in Northeastern’s 10-2 victory against Vermont on Saturday.

Alina Müller, Sophomore, Forward, Northeastern: Müller has, to the surprise of no one, been dominant of late. She posted five points in that blowout victory against UVM, then scored a goal and an assist on Tuesday evening to lead the Huskies to a win in a very tight game against BU.

Claire Dalton, Sophomore, Forward, Yale: The Bulldogs are riding a six-game win streak and Dalton has factored heavily into their success. Over that same stretch, she has three goals, four assists, and seven points.

Grace Graham, Senior, Forward, Cornell: Graham posted two goals and an assist in Cornell’s statement 7-0 victory over Harvard two weeks ago. Last Friday against Colgate, she scored a goal and an assist in a 2-0 victory.

Delaney Belinskas, Senior, Forward, Boston College: With six goals in her last four games, Belinskas is making a huge impact for the Eagles up front. She had a five-goal weekend against Vermont two weeks ago to help BC pick up two important wins.

Alison Small, Junior, Goaltender, Syracuse: Small has helped the Orange to two wins against Robert Morris and Penn State in their last three outings. She’s made 92 saves over that stretch and posted a .979 save percentage.

Lindsay Browning, Junior, Goaltender, Cornell: Browning continues to give opposing offenses fits. Over the past four games, she has a microscopic goals-against average of 0.25 and a stellar save percentage of .981.

Don’t Miss It

Upcoming games to watch for:

Clarkson at Cornell (Friday, Jan. 31): Cornell has lost just one game this season, thanks in large part to disciplined play and suffocating defense and goaltending. Clarkson goaltender Marie-Pier Coulombe has been red hot lately, though, so this should be a great matchup in net between her and Browning.

Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota (Friday, Jan. 31, and Saturday, Feb. 1): All of a sudden, the Gophers have three losses in their last four games and a viable contender in Minnesota Duluth coming to town. It goes without saying that both teams will be highly motivated for this series.

The Beanpot (Tuesday, Feb. 4, and Tuesday, Feb. 11): This year’s edition of the storied tournament will see Harvard pitted against Northeastern and BC taking on defending champion BU in the first round.