Izzy Daniel Becomes The First Player In Program History To Earn The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award

DURHAM, N.H. - Izzy Daniel has been named the recipient of the esteemed Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, making her the first Cornell women's ice hockey player to earn this honor. With this honor, Daniel has now secured the coveted "triple crown" by winning Ivy League Player of The Year, ECAC Hockey Player of The Year, and now the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. Daniel culminated her Big Red career with a season to remember. The Minnesota native constructed a 59-point season on 21 goals and 38 assists. She captained Cornell to its 16th Ivy League title in program history, along with an NCAA Regional Finals berth.

An award of The USA Hockey Foundation, the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award was established in 1998 and is presented annually to the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey. Other selection criteria include outstanding individual and team skills, sportsmanship, performance in the clutch, personal character, competitiveness and a love of hockey. Consideration is also given to academic achievement and civic involvement.

Doug Derraugh, the Everett Family Head Coach of Cornell women's ice hockey, spoke highly about Daniel when asked why she should be considered for such a highly touted award. "Izzy Daniel has great character and epitomizes everything the Patty Kazmaier Award is about", Derraugh mentions. According to Derraugh, four of the key things that Daniel embodies are "making the team and everyone around you better, production in the clutch, sportsmanship, and academics".

These qualities are evident when you look at Daniel's body of work this season. Big Red Captain Daniel led the NCAA in assists for the majority of the season. She finished the season slotted second in points per game and is 25 points ahead of Cornell's second leading scorer along with being Cornell's leading penalty-killer. Her clutch factor was never in question, as the Minnesota Native has scored or assisted on 11 game-winners this season. Of the 14 games where she did not, Daniel registered multiple points in 10 of those. She personifies sportsmanship, playing the game clean, only accounting for 10 penalty minutes in 34 games this season. On the academic side of it, Daniel is the epitome of an Ivy League student-athlete, boasting the second highest GPA on the team.

Izzy Daniel - Cornell

Casey O'Brien - Wisconsin

Kirsten Simms - Wisconsin

Danielle Serdachny - Colgate

Abbey Murphy - Minnesota

Caroline Harvey - Wisconsin

Abby Hustler - St. Lawrence

Tessa Janecke - Penn State

Gwyneth Philips - Northeastern

Sarah Fillier - Princeton

Patty Kazmaier represented the spirit, character and on- and off-ice excellence upon which The USA Hockey Foundation national women’s ice hockey award is based. A gifted scholar-athlete, Patty battled a rare blood disease for more than a year before passing away in 1990 at the age of 28. A loving mother and wife, she left behind her husband, Mark J. Sandt and an infant daughter, Serena.

Athletic excellence ran in the Kazmaier family, as her sister, Kathy, played college ice hockey at the University of New Hampshire and her father, Dick Kazmaier, a graduate of Princeton University, won the Heisman Trophy in 1951, beating out Pro Football Hall of Famer Frank Gifford.

Patty continued her father’s athletic and academic excellence at Princeton. A four-year varsity ice hockey letter-winner, Patty anchored the Princeton defense and led the Tigers to the Ivy League Championship in three consecutive seasons (1981-82 through 1983-84), while earning multiple league honors.

A truly exceptional individual, Patty Kazmaier’s achievements in life and in sport serve as an inspiration for all women who play ice hockey now and in the future.

The top thirteen female hockey players in the nation have been recognized as 2023-24 CCM/AHCA Women's Division One Ice Hockey All-Americans.

Daniel has been named to the AHCA All-America First-Team. She becomes the first Big Red player since Jaime Bourbonnais in 2020 to earn this honor.

2023-24 AHCA First Team All-Americans

Gwyneth Phillips (G) - Northeastern

Nicole Gosling (D) - Clarkson

Caroline Harvey (D) - Wisconsin

Izzy Daniel (F) - Cornell

Casey O'Brien (F) - Wisconsin

Kirsten Simms (F) - Wisconsin

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Points were at a premium for the sensational senior as she would open the year out with a 14-game point-streak. In the first 11 games of that point-streak, Daniel registered two or more points in every contest. Her longest assist-streak of the year stood at nine games. Her longest goal-streak was five games.

Daniel exploded for a six-point weekend in the opener versus no. 13 Penn State, registering her points on one goal and five assists. She eclipsed her 100th-career point in the process of sweeping the Nittany Lions.

On the last weekend of the regular season, Daniel would capture the 150-point mark in dramatic fashion, netting an overtime game-winning goal against Brown to push the Big Red one step closer to an Ivy League title. In the next game, as the Big Red went back-and-forth with defending Ivy champion Yale at Ingalls Rink, Izzy Daniel skated down the ice and found rookie forward Karel Prefontaine who answered the call netting the game-winning goal which would hand Cornell its 16th Ivy League title in program history.

The Minnesota native has skated herself into the ranks of Cornell women's ice hockey legends. In the NCAA Era Cornell record books, Daniel is tied first in single-season assists with 38. She is third in NCAA Era points in a season with 59. Daniel is third in career-assists (107), ninth in career-goals (51), and fifth in career-points (158 points).

In her freshman season (2019-20), Daniel earned Ivy League Rookie of The Year honors as the Cornell Big Red were ranked first in the country and were making a beeline for the program's first ever NCAA National Championship. Unfortunately, the season was cut short due to the complications and spread of the COVID-19 virus around the world. Following the pandemic, the Big Red had a few "down seasons" finishing just above the .500 mark. Now as a senior, ECAC Hockey and Ivy League Player of The Year Izzy Daniel has led Cornell back to national prominence and has given the program its first ever Patty Kazmaier Award honoree.