Atlantic Hockey announced Tuesday its 2023-24 regular-season awards – player of the year, rookie of the year, coach of the year, best defenseman, goaltender of the year, best defensive forward, individual sportsmanship, scoring champion, goaltending champion and team sportsmanship.
Honorees this year include two from Atlantic Hockey regular-season champion RIT – goaltender Tommy Scarfone (goaltender of the year) and head coach Wayne Wilson (coach of the year). They are joined by Holy Cross’ Liam McLinskey (player of the year, scoring champion) and Jason Grande (goaltending champion), Canisius’ Matteo Giampa (rookie of the year), AIC’s Brian Kramer (best defenseman), Air Force’s Austin Schwartz (best defensive forward) and Sacred Heart’s Braeden Tuck (individual sportsmanship award). Sacred Heart Pioneers was honored with the lone team award as the AHA’s team sportsmanship award recipient.
McLinskey helped lead the Crusaders to a second straight appearance in the Atlantic Hockey semifinals this season. He is the second Crusader to earn AHA POTY honors, joining Tyler McGregor, who was recognized in 2005-06. McLinskey, who registered 47 points on 19 goals and 28 assists this season, won the Atlantic Hockey scoring championship with 31 points (11 goals, 20 assists) in AHA play to join McGregor (2005-06) as the second Crusader to take home that honor.
Giampa turned in one of the top freshmen scoring seasons in Atlantic Hockey history in 2023-24, tallying 35 points on 18 goals and 17 assists to lead Canisius all three categories. His point and goal totals both tie for third in AHA history among freshmen. Giampa was a two-time AHA rookie of the week selection and a rare double winner of AHA monthly honors when he was tabbed the player and rookie of the Month in November. He also earned AHA rookie of the month accolades in January. He joins forward David Kostuch (2008-09) as the second Golden Griffin to win AHA rookie of the year honors.
Wilson led the Tigers to their sixth Atlantic Hockey regular-season title this season as RIT took the conference crown by eight points over runner-up Holy Cross. The six regular-season titles are the most for any school in conference history. The Tigers will play for their fourth AHA postseason title under Wilson on Saturday. This is his second consecutive Atlantic Hockey coach of the year honor. With the honor, Wilson joins Army West Point’s Brian Riley (2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08) and AIC’s Eric Lang (2018-19, 2019-20) as the only coaches to win consecutive AHA coach of the year awards.
Kramer skates into the Atlantic Hockey championship tied for seventh in scoring among AHA defensemen with 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) despite missing five games this season due to injury. His scoring performance in conference play (7 goals, 8 assists, 15 points) also ranked in the top 10 among defenders. He leads the Yellow Jackets in game-winning goals with three and is one of just two defensemen among the top 10 in that category in Atlantic Hockey. Kramer is the third AIC blueliner to earn defenseman of the year honors in the last four seasons, joining Brennan Kapcheck (2020-21) and Zak Galambos (2021-22).
Scarfone takes home Atlantic Hockey’s first goaltender of the year Award in 2023-24. He has posted a 24-8-2 mark for the Tigers this season that includes a 16-5-1 mark in Atlantic Hockey play. The overall win total ranks No. 4 in AHA history while the 16 conference wins is tied for seventh in league history. His four shutouts this season lead all AHA netminders and tie him for fourth nationally. Scarfone also became the 37th goaltender in AHA history – and the third in RIT’s Division I era – to reach 2,000 saves this season and now ranks No. 23 on the AHA career saves list with 2,443 stops. He also ranks No. 7 in AHA career save percentage (.922) and goals-against average (2.34).
Schwartz earned best defensive forward honors after leading the nation in short-handed goals and ranking as one of the top shot-blocking forwards in the country. He scored four times a man down and deflected 46 shots during the 2023-24 campaign. He remains tied for the national lead in shorties and ranks third nationally among forwards in blocked shots. Schwartz also won 53.6% of his faceoffs for the Falcons this season and was a key member of an Air Force penalty kill unit that ranks sixth nationally at 84.8%. He joins Ben Carey (2015-16) and Brady Tomlak (2019-20) as Air Force’s third best defensive forward honoree.
Tuck epitomized the Pioneers’ aversion to penalties this season, as he was whistled for just three minor infractions in 33 games for a team that was the least-penalized in Atlantic Hockey. In five seasons with SHU, he has been whistled for just seven minor penalties while playing in 157 contests in that span. He recorded 17 points on six goals and 11 assists this season and netted four game-winning goals, including two overtime winners.
Grande posted a .926 save percentage in conference play and also recorded a 2.20 goals-against average against AHA foes, which ranked No. 2 among league netminders. Grande’s full-season 2.01 GAA also leads Atlantic Hockey. He is the third Crusader goaltender to win the award, joining Ben Conway (2004-05) and Tony Quesada (2005-06).
Head coach C.J. Marottolo and the Pioneers ended the 2023-24 regular season as one of the least-penalized teams in NCAA Division I. Sacred Heart averaged just 3.8 penalties and 9.08 penalty minutes a game this season. SHU was whistled for only 136 penalties totaling 327 minutes in 36 contests. The Pioneers have now won the last four AHA team sportsmanship awards that have been presented (2019-20, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24).
