ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell men's hockey team held its annual awards banquet at the Lake Watch Inn on Friday night, announcing postseason award-winners and captains for the 2012-13 season. Sophomore goalie Andy Iles took home the night's top honor by winning the Nicky Bawlf Award as the team's most valuable player, and current juniors Erik Axell, Braden Birch and Nick D'Agostino have been selected to lead the team next season as tri-captains.
 
Seniors Keir Ross and Sean Collins, juniors Braden Birch, Nick D'Agostino and Erik Axell, and freshman Brian Ferlin also earned postseason awards. Each award, as well as team captaincy, is voted upon by the players on the 2011-12 roster.
 
Iles finished the season as one of just two goalies across the Division I landscape to serve as his team's goaltender exclusively for the entire season. He posted a 19-9-7 record with a 2.12 goals-against average which ranked 10th in the country. He was also recognized for his six shutouts on the season, which was just one behind the national leaders. The Big Red has at least one shutout in 17 consecutive seasons. Iles also won the Joe DeLibero-Stan Tsapis Award for skilled efficiency, unselfish dedication and hard-nosed competitive desire.

Keir Ross took home a pair of awards on the night. He was tabbed for the Bill Doran Sportsmanship Award after serving as the team's sole captain in the 2011-12 season. He had two goals and five assists while posting a career-high rating of plus-15, which was highest among the Big Red's defensemen for the second consecutive season. He was also one of 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Ross was also given the Mark Weiss Memorial Award, which is awarded to a senior with a career-long dedication and passion for the sport of hockey.

Braden Birch was presented the Cornell Hockey Association Award, which is given annually to the player whose contributions to the team don't show up in the box score, but rather are in the form of energy, heart and hustle. Birch fit that mold to a T, serving as one of the top defensive defensemen in ECAC Hockey. He went two months without being on the ice for an even-strength goal against — a streak covering 12 games and 668 minutes, 49 seconds.
 
The Sam Woodside Award for overall career improvement by a senior went to Sean Collins, who enjoyed a breakout season with 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points, which ranked second on the team only to Greg Miller's 31 points. He set or tied career highs in goals, assists, points, plus/minus rating, power-play goals and game-winning goals. After the Big Red's season ended in the NCAA regional finals, Collins signed a contract with the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets and notched a goal and four assists for five points in just eight games with Columbus' American Hockey League affiliate, the Springfield Falcons.
 
Erik Axell received the Iron Man Award, presented to the player who showed determination to overcome injuries. Axell played in all 35 games on the year, accumulating a career-high four points while serving as one of the team's primary penalty-killers.
 
The Greg Ratushny Award for the most promising rookie went to Brian Ferlin, who was selected as the Rookie of the Year in both the Ivy League and ECAC Hockey. He finished second in league rookie scoring with 17 points in 19 conference games, but led that race until a late-season injury shelved him and allowed Quinnipiac's Matthew Peca to surpass him.
 
Nick D'Agostino claimed the Crimson Cup, given to the player who was the standout performer in the season series against Harvard. Against the Crimson this season, D'Agostino scored two power-play goals in the Big Red's 4-2 victory on Nov. 11 in Cambridge, Mass., then he added an assist in the 2-2 tie on Jan. 21 at Lynah Rink.
 
The team also issued awards to players who scored shorthanded goals during the season — freshmen Joakim Ryan (who had two) and Joel Lowry, junior Vince Mihalek and seniors Locke Jillson and Collins.
 
Axell, Birch and D'Agostino will serve as the program's first tri-captains since the 2000-01 season, when Andrew McNiven, Larry Pierce and Danny Powell all wore the 'C' for the Big Red in Mike Schafer's sixth season as the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey.