Yale senior goaltender Jackee Snikeris has been named the winner of the 2011 Sarah Devens Award.
Given as a joint award between ECAC Hockey and Hockey East, the award is presented annually to a player who “demonstrates leadership and commitment both on and off the ice.”
Snikeris, the first Yale player to win the award, receives a post-graduate scholarship of $10,000. Snikeris is a History of Medicine (Pre-Med) major who has a 3.59 cumulative GPA and plans on attending medical school in the near future. In addition to working at a nearby hospital and having some of her work there published in the Journal of Surgical Radiology, she has also volunteered at a local hospice for the past two years and taught skating to local middle schoolers.
“Being named the Sarah Devens Award Winner is truly an honor, especially after reading more about who Sarah Devens was as a person. She seemed like a truly remarkable student-athlete and I am very humbled to be recognized in her honor. I will be forever grateful for the post-graduate scholarship and it will undoubtedly help me when I go to medical school,” said Snikeris in a statement.
Snikeris and her teammates were also part of the start of the “Bulldog Buddies” program this past fall. The Yale women’s team “adopted” a local girl who recently had surgery to remove a brain tumor.
On the ice, Snikeris re-wrote the Yale record book. A Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award nominee this season, Snikeris holds the school’s
career records for save percentage (.931), goals-against average (2.12) and shutouts (16). She also holds the single-season Yale records for save percentage (.941) and goals-against average (1.67) and is tied for the shutout record (five). She was recently named ECAC Hockey’s Goaltender of the Year and Student-Athlete of the Year, earned first team All-League honors, and team MVP honors twice.
The other finalist for the award was Hockey East’s Holly Lorms from Boston University.
