ITHACA, N.Y. -- Sophomore Riley Nash earned First-Team All-ECAC Hockey and senior Tyler Mugford was named the league's top defensive forward in the annual awards, released today by the league office. In all, six Cornell players were honored in voting conducted by the league's 12 coaches.

Nash became the first Cornell player on the first team since David McKee and Matt Moulson were selected to the top six in 2005. The 2008 ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year, Nash was joined on the first team by forwards David McIntyre of Colgate and Mark Arcobello of Yale, along with defensemen Lane Caffaro of Union and Zack Miskovic of St. Lawrence and goaltender Zane Kalemba of Princeton.

A trio of juniors were selected to the second team, as Colin Greening, Brendon Nash and Ben Scrivens were voted to the next six by the league's coaches. They were joined on the second team by Yale defenseman Tom Dignard and forwards Sean Backman of Yale and Bryan Leitch of Quinnipiac. Additionally, freshman defenseman Keir Ross was named to the league's all-rookie team.

Mugford, meanwhile, was one of the seven individual award winners on the night, earning the top defensive forward award. He becomes the first Big Red player to earn that award since Stephen Baby captured that hardware in 2002 and 2003.

Princeton's Kalemba was named the league's most valuable player in addition to the league's top goaltender. Dartmouth goaltender Jody O'Neill captured the rookie of the year award, while the coach of the year was Keith Allain of Yale after guiding the Bulldogs to the regular-season title. St. Lawrence's Matt Generous was named the best defensive defenseman to round out the individual honors, while Princeton captured the Turfer Athletic Trophy.

Cornell takes on Princeton in the second of two semifinals on Friday as part of the ECAC Hockey Championship Weekend. The winner faces the winner of St. Lawrence and Yale for the league's automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

2009 ECAC HOCKEY ANNUAL AWARD WINNERS
Player of the Year - Zane Kalemba, Princeton
Goaltender of the Year - Zane Kalemba, Princeton
Rookie of the Year - Jody O'Neill, Dartmouth
Best Defensive Forward - Tyler Mugford, Cornell
Best Defensive Defenseman - Matt Generous, St. Lawrence
Coach of the Year - Keith Allain, Yale
Turfer Athletic Trophy - Princeton
 
FIRST TEAM ALL-LEAGUE
G  Zane Kalemba, Princeton
D  Lane Caffaro, Union
D  Zach Miskovic , St. Lawrence
F  Mark Arcobello, Yale
F  Riley Nash, Cornell
F  David McIntyre, Colgate

SECOND TEAM ALL-LEAGUE
G  Ben Scrivens, Cornell
D  Tom Dignard, Yale
D  Brendon Nash, Cornell
F   Sean Backman, Yale
F  Bryan Leitch, Quinnipiac
F  Colin Greening, Cornell

THIRD TEAM ALL-LEAGUE
G  Alec Richards, Yale
D  Alex Biega, Harvard
D  Jody Peterson,  Princeton
F  Brock McBride, St. Lawrence
F  Broc Little, Yale
F  Adam Presizniuk, Union

ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
G  Jody O'Neill, Dartmouth
D  Jeff Buvinow, Brown
D  Keir Ross, Cornell
F  Patrick Cullen, Rensselaer
F  Doug Jones, Dartmouth
F  Brian O'Neill, Yale