Pittsburgh, Pa. – Freshman forward Jaycee Gebhard of the No. 8 Robert Morris University women's hockey team was named the 2016-17 Women's Hockey Commissioners' Association National Rookie of the Year, announced the WHCA Thursday afternoon.
 
Assistant coaches from the nation's 36 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey programs voted on the honor. Gebhard is the fourth recipient of this award, which was established in 2014, and is the first ever from Robert Morris to collect the accolade.
 
Gebhard adds the national honor to her list of accolades this season, including 2016-17 USCHO All-Rookie Team, College Hockey America (CHA) Rookie of the Year, All-CHA Second Team, and All-CHA Rookie Team.
 
The freshman out of Plenty, Saskatchewan, had a consistently solid rookie season, as she was named CHA Rookie of the Month for five consecutive months en route to the Rookie of the Year honors. She put together a career-high nine-game point streak from Jan. 28 to Mar. 4 (9GMS: 7G-6A-13P) and posted 15 multi-point efforts.
 
"We are excited and so very proud of Jaycee for this wonderful accomplishment and honor," said head coach Paul Colontino in a release Thursday. "Jaycee had an outstanding freshman season from start to finish, and played a major role in the success of our program this year. Her character, drive, and work ethic were not only the keys to her success, but an inspiration for us all. RMU couldn't be prouder of Jaycee for all her successes this year. She is a tremendous athlete, but more importantly, an outstanding person and teammate."
 
Gebhard helped guide the No. 8 Colonials (24-5-6, 15-3-2) to their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth after claiming both the 2016-17 College Hockey America (CHA) Regular Season and Championship titles, another first for the Robert Morris women's hockey program.
 
The 2016-17 Colonials are the winningest team in conference matchups in a season (15-3-2) in program history, and are tied with the 2013-14 RMU team for most overall wins in a season (24).
 
Gebhard led all rookies in points per game (1.31) and topped the nation in power-play goals (nine). She finished ninth nationally in goals per game (0.63). Gebhard also set a new all-time single-season rookie points record (46), and her 22 goals ranks second among all RMU seasons. Gebhard paced the Colonials in goals this season, and ranked second on the squad in points and assists.
 
The runner-up for this year's award was Princeton University's freshman forward Carly Bullock. Previous winners are Dani Cameranesi of Minnesota (2014), Annie Pankowski of Wisconsin (2015), and Sarah Potomak of Minnesota (2016). Gebhard is the first from a CHA program to earn the prestigious national award.
 
 
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