PEDERSEN’S LAKERS PICKED 2ND IN CHA COACHES POLL

Boston, Mass. – College Hockey America has announced its preseason coaches’ poll for the 2023-24 season.  

The preseason poll has the Lakers finishing second in the CHA. The Lakers came in with 25 points and received one first place vote. The only team picked ahead of them was Penn State with 30 points and five first place votes. 

The CHA also announced the preseason awards like that includes multiple Lakers. Henlee Mahoney was picked as the Co-Rookie of the Year. Mahoney joins the Lakers after two years of junior hockey for the Stoney Creek Sabres of the OWHL. The Niagara Falls, Ontario native took home MVP honors, and was a team captain at Saint Michael Catholic High School. 

The Preseason All-CHA team featured Sara Boucher. The Burlington, Ontario native received All-CHA Second Team honors a season ago and became the seventh player in CHA history to record three hat tricks in a season.  Boucher finished the year with 17 goals, and 21 assists. Boucher will garner the “C” for the Lakers this season. The Preseason team also featured Sydney Pedersen. The Milestone, Saskatchewan native received All-CHA Second team honors a season ago, tallying 25 points on 11 goals and 14 assists with 45 blocked shots. Finally, the All-CHA team featured goaltender Ena Nystrom. The Stavanger, Norway native finished the year with a 9-2-2 record, which earned her Goaltender of the Year honors, as well as All-CHA First Team honors.        

The Lakers finished the 2022-23 season with a record of 21-14-2 (11-3-2 CHA).  The Lakers finished the regular season 6-0-2 which put them in second place in the regular season standings.  In the CHA tournament the Lakers beat Syracuse in the semifinal, but eventually lost to Penn State in the CHA final. 

The Lakers will open their season September 23-24 with a weekend series against Post.