Morgan Fritz-Ward Named Women's Ice Hockey Captain for 2014-15 Season
8/21/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
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HAMDEN, Conn. – Quinnipiac women's ice hockey head coach Rick Seeley and his staff have announced that senior forward Morgan Fritz-Ward (Mason City, Iowa) has been named the team captain for the upcoming 2014-15 season. The Bobcats are coming off their fifth straight ECAC Hockey Tournament appearance in 2013-14 and finished last season with their best single-season record (22-6-9) in program history.
"When looking back at this team's previous leaders it brings me great honor to be considered part of a small group of wonderful, talented athletes and be given the opportunity to lead them," Fritz-Ward said. "I am very excited for what this year will bring and couldn't be happier to do it with the girls I call my sisters."
Fritz-Ward's selection as the team captain mimics her career at Lakeville South High School where she was named captain of the women's ice hockey team during her senior year. She takes the reigns from the graduating 2013-14 captain Amanda Colin (Burnsville, Minn.) who helped guide the Bobcats to their best season in program history.
She will don the "C" after a 2013-14 season in which she scored career-highs across the board with 15 points (nine goals and six assists) while playing in all 37 games for the first time in her career. A proven goal scorer, Fritz-Ward had a knack for making big plays when her team needed it most as she totaled the third-most game-winning goals (three) on the team as well as the third-most shots-on-goal (109). In addition to her offensive talents, she spent a great deal of time on the penalty kill unit for the Bobcats and led all Quinnipiac forwards with 31 blocked shots for the season.
After coming into last season with just one multi-point game to her name, she finished the 2013-14 season with five multi-point games as well as her first two multi-goal games of her career. Perhaps her most-clutch moment of the season came at home where she knocked in the game-winning goal with less than three minutes left against Ne
w Hampshire on Nov. 16 in what turned out to a 2-1 victory for Quinnipiac. She also played her best against Dartmouth as she came up with the game-winner on the road in a highly-contested 4-2 win at Thompson Arena on Oct. 26 and then later in the season scored the game-winning goal in a 3-1 home win over the Big Green on Jan. 31.
Fritz-Ward will come into next season with 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) in 85 career games. The team she will be leading is coming off an outstanding season that saw them break numerous program records highlighted by 22 straight weeks being ranked in the Top 10 as well as two wins over Top 5 ranked opponents in 2013-14 (No. 5 Boston College at home, 3-2; No. 3 Cornell on the road, 2-1). The Bobcats will return 17 letterwinners as well as senior Erica Uden Johansson (Sundsvall, Sweden) who is fresh off her second appearance in the Olympics as a member of Team Sweden. Quinnipiac will have to say goodbye to the most illustrious player in program history as Kelly Babstock (Mississauga, Ontario) has graduated along with five other seniors as the Bobcats will certainly rely on Fritz-Ward for leadership to get the 2014-15 squad back into the postseason for the sixth consecutive season.
The announcement makes Fritz-Ward the 11th player in program history to be selected as team captain. She follows a long line of successful leaders in previous seasons and the announcement signifies Quinnipiac will go with consecutive forwards to be named captain since 2003-05.
| Quinnipiac Women's Ice Hockey Captain Year-By-Year History | |||
| Season | Name | Position | Hometown |
| 2014-15 | Morgan Fritz-Ward | Forward | Mason City, Iowa |
| 2013-14 | Amanda Colin | Forward | Burnsville, Minn. |
| 2012-13 | Regan Boulton | Defense | Brandon, Manitoba |
| 2011-12 | Jordan Elkins | Defense | Wasilla, Alaska |
| 2010-11 | Jordan Elkins | Defense | Wasilla, Alaska |
| 2009-10 | Kallie Flor | Forward | Farmington, Minn. |
| 2008-09 | Trudy Reyns | Defense | Port Hope, Ontario |
| 2007-08 | Trudy Reyns | Defense | Port Hope, Ontario |
| 2006-07 | Kristin Alcorn | Defense | Orangeville, Ontario |
| 2005-06 | Kristin Alcorn | Defense | Orangeville, Ontario |
| 2004-05 | Caitlin Peters | Forward | Minneapolis, Minn. |
| 2003-04 | Debbie Beaudoin | Forward | Surrey, British Columbia |
| 2002-03 | Serena Hillman | Forward | Tsawwassen, British Columbia |
| Elizabeth Jankowski | Forward | Cheshire, Conn. | |
| 2001-02 | Serena Hillman | Forward | Tsawwassen, British Columbia |
| Elizabeth Jankowski | Forward | Cheshire, Conn. | |
