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ITHACA, N.Y. -- Sophomore Laura Fortino was named the Robert D. "Bob" Brunet '41 Most Valuable Player for the 2010-11 Cornell women's hockey team at the team's annual awards banquet, held May 8 at the Moakley House on the Cornell campus. Fortino was one of nine winners on the day as the team recognized its second straight ECAC Hockey championship and appearance in the NCAA Frozen Four.

Fortino finished her second season with her second straight first-team All-American award and was the only defenseman among the 10 finalists for the 2011 Patty Kazmaier Award. She led all defensemen in the country in scoring with 41 points on nine goals and 32 assists in 33 games, missing two contests while winning a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2011 MLP Cup, where she was named the Most Outstanding Player in the tournament's championship game. Fortino led the Big Red with 32 assists, while finishing the season with at least one point in 15 of the team's final 17 games. The Hamilton, Ontario, native was also named the Ivy League's Player of the Year.

Senior Hayley Hughes captured a trio of awards for her play during the season, capturing the Helanie Fisher Hebble '84 Unsung Hero award with fellow senior Karlee Overguard, along with the Kate Hallada Pinhey '83 Most Improved Player Award and the Wendell Earle Academic Award for the highest grade point average among the senior class.

Hughes, a native of Toronto, Ontario, had her best season in a Cornell uniform as a senior, scoring 35 points on 17 goals and 18 assists, all career highs and all higher than her career totals entering the 2010-11 season. She had 11 multi-point games on the season, including back-to-back three-point games on Nov. 5 and 6 against Harvard and Dartmouth. Hughes also captured a spot on the all-tournament team at the ECAC Hockey tournament, and posted seven points in Cornell's six playoff games during her final season.

Hughes shared the Helanie Fisher Hebble '84 Unsung Hero Award with fellow senior Karlee Overguard. Overguard capped her career with 127 games played, the most ever by a Cornell women's hockey player, and won the ECAC Hockey co-Defensive Forward of the Year award for her play on both ends of the ice. She showed a flair for the dramatic, scoring the overtime game-winner against Rensselaer in the first game of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals, and scored a pair of goals in Cornell's 3-0 victory at Mercyhurst in mid-January. She also scored the team's only goal in the national semifinal loss to Boston University.

Other winners of the Wendell Earle Academic Award were junior Jenna Paulson and sophomore Lauriane Rougeau for having the highest grade point average in their respective classes. Paulson, a defenseman from Toronto, Ontario, was one of only four players on the roster to dress for every game in 2010-11, and collected her first career point with an assist on Oct. 23 against Robert Morris.

Rougeau, meanwhile, was named the top defenseman in ECAC Hockey as a sophomore, finishing the season with a +50 rating and earning second-team All-America honors. She also picked up a spot on the ECAC Hockey first team for the second year in a row. Rougeau, from Beaconsfield, Quebec, ranked second in the nation in scoring among all defensemen behind only her teammate and classmate, Laura Fortino, finishing with 31 points in 33 games on four goals and 27 assists.

Three other awards were handed out during the banquet, with four different players receiving honors. Senior Amber Overguard and junior Amanda Mazzotta shared the William F. Fuerst, Jr., '39 Big Red Player of the Year Award, with junior Catherine White taking home the TGHA Cub Club Mentor Award. The Class of '41 Rookie of the Year went to Brianne Jenner.

Overguard served as captain for the Big Red in 2010-11, leading the team to its second appearance in the Frozen Four. A native of Sundre, Alberta, she missed three games due to injury during the season, but overcame a myriad of injuries over her career to play in 103 games.

Similarly overcoming adversity this season, Mazzotta missed three months due to injury, making a return in the semifinals of the ECAC Hockey tournament to post a victory over Quinnipiac, then blanked Dartmouth in the league title game. She finished the year as the nation's leader in goals-against average, allowing 1.11 goals per game, and finished the year with a 16-2 record with five shutouts.

White received the Cub Club Mentor Award for her work with the Tompkins Girls Hockey Association in addition to her prowess on the ice. Despite having a statistically better season in 2010-11 than during her sophomore year of 2009-10, White was only named second-team All-Ivy League and third-team All-ECAC Hockey. She finished the season with 21 goals and 24 assists for 45 points in 32 games, and had a point-scoring streak of 16 games snapped in the national semifinal loss to Boston University.

Jenner claimed the Class of '41 Rookie of the Year Award after tying for the team lead in scoring with 50 points in her debut campaign. She was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year and was among the nominees for the 2011 Patty Kazmaier Award, while also picking up a spot on the ECAC Hockey first team and all-rookie team. She finished the season with 23 goals and 27 assists in just 33 games, while also accumulating a +42 rating.

Cornell finished the 2010-11 season with a 31-3-1 overall mark and a 19-1-1 record in ECAC Hockey play. The Big Red captured its second straight ECAC Hockey and Ivy League regular season titles along with the program's second consecutive league tournament title. The Big Red played host to the first-ever NCAA tournament game at Lynah Rink, defeating Dartmouth, 7-1, to advance to the NCAA Frozen Four in Erie, Pa., ultimately falling in the national semifinals to Boston University.