Quartet of California connections pick up NCAA All-American honors
As NCAA college hockey seasons have come to a close, postseason honors have been announced and several players with California ties were named All-Americans in recent weeks.
In the women’s ranks, Laguna Hills native and Anaheim Lady Ducks graduate Annie Pankowski earned First Team honors with the University of Wisconsin, also winning a national championship last month as a senior co-captain.
Pankowski was named to the Second Team in 2016 and 2017.
This past season for the Badgers, Pankowski posted 28 goals and 50 points in 39 games.
On the men’s side, St. Cloud State University senior forward Patrick Newell, a Thousand Oaks native and Los Angeles Jr. Kings alum, grabbed First Team West honors with the Huskies after tallying 21 goals and 47 points in 39 games to lead SCSU in scoring.
Undrafted, Newell parlayed this season into a free-agent NHL contract with the New York Rangers.
St. Cloud State was upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by American International College.
Northern Michigan senior forward Troy Loggins earned a spot on the West Second Team, going for 23 goals and 40 points in 39 games to lead the Wildcats in scoring.
Loggins, an Anaheim Jr. Ducks graduate and Huntington Beach native, subsequently signed an AHL contract with the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Providence College junior forward Josh Wilkins was named to the East Second Team this season.
Wilkins, a North Carolina native who spent time during his youth hockey career with the Jr. Kings, registered 20 goals and 46 points to finish atop the Friars’ scoring list for the 2018-19 season.
Providence also advanced to the Frozen Four, losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Minnesota Duluth 4-1 on April 11.
In the Frozen Four championship game April 13 in Buffalo, Trabuco Canyon native Jake Rosenbaum (Santa Margarita Catholic High School, Jr. Kings) was part of the winning Bulldogs squad that upended Vacaville native and University of Massachusetts captain Niko Hildenbrand in a 3-0 shutout.
Photos/school athletic departments
— Matt Mackinder
(April 22, 2019)
