The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston has announced that Curry goaltender Shane Soderwall is the winner of the 24th Joe Concannon Award, presented annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England at the Division II-III level.
The sophomore has led his team to their first Frozen Four appearance, hosted by Utica, on March 28.
Soderwall has played in 27 games, posting a 1.45 goals-against average with a .945 save percentage and a Curry-record eight shutouts. He has a 24-3-0 record and earned player of the year, goaltender of the year, and first team all-CNE honors while leading the Colonels to the CNE regular-season and conference tournament championships.
Soderwall surrendered just one goal in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Hamilton in the NCAA quarterfinals while making 37 saves to backstop the top-seeded Colonels.
“Shane is a special kid, very humble and an incredibly hard worker,” said Curry coach Peter Roundy in a statement. “He took a chance on us, coming here last year, and believed in our vision for the program. He has great physical talent, but what separates him is the mindset. He is a very positive influence with the team, and he knows what he wants. When he took the crease last year, he built up his experience and had remarkable success, earning the goaltender and rookie of the year honors in the conference.
“With all that, he still works like he is a backup goaltender and continually improves his craft. I am very proud of Shane’s winning this prestigious award, as it recognizes both his performance as well as our program.”
The Joe Concannon Award was established in 2001 shortly after the passing of the longtime writer for the Boston Globe, who had a great passion for college hockey while always advocating strongly for amateur athletics.
