Moon Township, Pa. ? The Robert Morris University men's hockey team handed out their annual awards on Sunday following the All-Sports Banquet. Seniors Aaron Clarke (Peterborough, Ontario / Niagara University) and Joe Tuset (Eagan, Minn. / Northern Michigan University) and junior Joel Gasper (Crookston, Minn. / Billings Bulls) each took home two awards.
Clarke was named Most Valuable Player and the Offensive Player of the Year after being named the team's first All-College Hockey America player, landing a spot on the second team. The senior led the squad with a team record 25 assists and finished second with 36 total points. He added 11 goals, including two gamewinners and two power-play markers. More importantly, 22 of his points ? eight goals and 14 assists ? came in CHA play.
Gasper is known for his hustle on every shift of every game and practice, earning his teammates praise in the form of the Most Inspirational award for the second straight season. In addition, he is the Co-Student-Athlete of the Year, sharing that honor with Tuset. Gasper picked up 13 points in 2006-07, finding the net four times and teammates nine times. He also has a 3.93 grade point average while majoring in manufacturing engineering.
The Most Improved Player this season was Tuset, who also shared the Student-Athlete of the Year Award with Gasper. Tuset, who had played in just 11 games prior to this season, finished his senior season by leading the team in save percentage (.913) and goals against average (3.08). He went 5-6-0 and earned CHA Defensive Player of the Week honors after backstopping the Colonials to a 4-2 upset of then-#2 Notre Dame. As a business administration major, Tuset has a 3.86 grade point average.
Junior Chris Kaufman (Gig Harbor, Wash. / Helena Bighorns) was named the team's Defensive Player of the Year for the second time in three seasons. The junior also won the award in 2004-05. Kaufman, a second-year captain, tied for the scoring lead among defensemen despite missing the final five games of the year due to injury. He finished the year with 14 points, tallying six goals and eight assists while earning significant time on the special teams.
The Freshman of the Year was freshman Dave Cowan (Calgary, Alberta / Olds Grizzlys). Cowan began getting regular playing time in December and quickly emerged as one of the team's toughest defensemen. He finished with five assists in regular season play and then tallied his first career goal in the CHA Championship game.
The Colonials finished the season with a team-record 14 wins to go along with 19 losses and two ties. They finished third in the CHA regular season, going 9-10-1, before advancing to the conference championship contest where they lost in overtime.
