In continuing to roll out the individual awards, the WCHA announced Wednesday a pair of awards to Ohio State, as Nadine Muzerall has been named coach of the year and senior blueliner Sophie Jaques outstanding student-athlete of the year.
In addition, Minnesota senior forward Taylor Heise was named as the WCHA scoring champion behind a 60-point season, while a 1.27 GAA earned Ohio State sophomore Amanda Thiele of Ohio State the title of WCHA goaltending champion.
In her sixth season, Muzerall led the Buckeyes to national dominance as Ohio State never fell below a third-place ranking in national polls over the course of the entire regular season. Her Buckeyes set several program records, including a home win streak, team and individual season scoring records, and four landed on All-WCHA teams. Primed for the postseason, the Ohio State squad holds a 25-6 overall record while going 5-0 against all of its nonconference opponents.
The coach of the year honor is the third of Muzerall’s career after earning the title in 2018 and 2020.
She’s been a record setter all season long for the Ohio State squad, but more importantly, Jaques has been described as the quintessential student-athlete. In addition to setting the Ohio State program record for single-season points by a defender, Jaques is the vice president of SHEROS, an OSU organization that provides a safe space for female student-athletes, in particular minorities to have open discussions and promote diversity in sports. She also works with the 2nd and 7 Foundation that concentrates on literacy and opportunity for Columbus youth.
Consistently appearing on Ohio State, WCHA, and Big Ten academic honor lists, Jaques has maintained a 3.7 GPA while completing a degree in Civil Engineering. While already having been offered a full scholarship to pursue her master’s degree in the same field next year, Jaques has completed numerous internships to prepare for her future in the engineering field. Even as a student-athlete, she interned with America Electric Power, with Amanda Graphics, as an undergraduate teaching assistant in Engineering at Ohio State and was a team member on a project to redesign two streets in university districts to improve traffic flow.
Jaques has been recognized by the WCHA as an eight-time defender of the week honoree and has collected three WCHA Defender of the Month titles. A First Team All-WCHA honoree, Jaques was also named WCHA Defender of the Year for her efforts on the ice.
A two-time WCHA Forward of the Month, Heise completed the season as the league’s scoring champion behind 60 points from 26 goals and 34 assists. She tallied a nation-leading four short-handed goals on the year and earned national recognition when she was the Hockey Commissioners Association’s National Player of the Month for November.
Heise added First Team All-WCHA honors and was named the league’s offensive player of the year for her efforts in the 2021-22 campaign.
In her sophomore season, Thiele made an immediate impact this season when gaining the opportunity to play between the pipes. After playing in just three games her freshman season, Thiele broke out with 989:38 of action across 21 games played where she posted a 1.27 GAA and a .940 save percentage. Earning four shutouts on the year, Thiele recorded a season-high of 36 saves in a 2-1 win over Minnesota on Jan. 28.
