Aurora University’s Jaunich and Thornton
Sweep Men’s Hockey Weekly Awards

Aurora University senior Jack Jaunich (F - White Bear Lake, Minn.) is the NCHA Men’s Offensive Player of the Week and freshman teammate Kolby Thornton (G - Winnipeg, Manitoba) is the NCHA Men’s Defensive Player of the Week, the league office announced Tuesday.

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Jaunich is honored with the first NCHA Offensive Player of the Week award of his career after recording a program milestone in addition to playing a role in four of the six total goals  in Aurora’s weekend sweep of nationally-ranked St. Norbert. The highly-anticipated showdown between what was then the No. 12 and No. 5 teams in the country turned into a huge weekend for the Spartans following a pair of exciting victories. Jaunich became the AU career goal scoring leader with his 35th all-time on the game winner in the opening night 3-1 decision, while adding an assist earlier in the night as well. In the 3-2 overtime victory the next night, Jaunich had primary assists on the game-tying goal with only five seconds left in regulation and then again on the game-winning goal with just 9.7 seconds left in overtime. He finished the pair of contests with four huge points (1G/3A).

Thornton gets selected as the NCHA Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career, as the newcomer continues his impressive freshman campaign. Thornton helped the Spartans jump from No. 12 in the national poll all the way up two No. 7 by backstopping the pair of thrilling victories over No. 5 St. Norbert. In the two games he stopped 112 of the 115 shots (.974 save percentage) sent his way with an AU record setting 65 saves in the opening night 3-1 win - including an amazing 24 in the third period alone. He then added 47 more saves (4 in OT) in the 3-2 overtime win the next night, limiting the Green Knights to just one goal in 12 power-play opportunities in the series.

2022-23 NCHA WEEKLY TOP PERFORMERS

Thad Marcola, Trine
Marcola led the way offensively in two NCHA wins over Finlandia. He began the weekend with an assist and the game-winning goal in a 5-3 victory. Then on Saturday he assisted on the eventual game winner in a 5-0 victory.

Riley Murphy, Adrian
Murphy led the offense to three wins this week over Stevenson and Lawrence. He finished with five total points including three goals and two assists. His three goals came in game one against Lawrence where he recorded a hat trick. On of his goals was marked as the game winning goal. He finished +6 on the week and totaled 13 shots.

Justin Ross, Lake Forest
Ross racked up four points and was +7 in the Foresters’ sweep of Concordia Wisconsin over the weekend. He scored two of the first three goals and added an assist in Friday’s 7-1 victory. Lake Forest prevailed 6-4 on Saturday with Ross netting the second score of the contest.

Jordan Simoneau, Marian
Simoneau scored three goals on the weekend in a series against MSOE. He closed out the series with the Raiders with his first multi-goal game of the season.

Cristian Wong-Ramos, Trine
Wong-Ramos secured two wins during the week for the Thunder. He began the week by making 20 saves to keep the game in reach and set up the comeback as the team defeated visiting Stevenson University 5-3. Then on Friday he opened the weekend doubleheader with another 5-3 victory this time over NCHA opponent Finlandia University.

Twenty-five years of NCHA men’s hockey.
It captures so many emotions that it’s difficult to wrap your head around.

All the moments … the National Championships, the standout players, the dramatic finishes, the thrilling upsets, the league championships, the Harris Cup highlights, the leaders ...

During this historic 25th season, the NCHA will celebrate everything that has made the conference special. Players are now wearing commemorative jersey patches. In addition, the weekly release will include a section highlighting historical events from 1998 to the most recent action.

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*March 2014:
St. Norbert College wins the NCAA National Championship to become the first league member to claim the title by defeating Stevens Point, 3-1. The Green Knights end the season No. 1 in the polls (28-3-1), with Adrian No. 5 (22-3-4), and
St. Scholastica No. 14 (16-9-4).

*February 2006:
The MSOE Raiders become the first-ever league team to land in the national Top 15 poll, earning the No. 14 spot in the poll (16-4-1 record at the time) after claiming the regular-season title
during the week.

*March 2011:
Adrian College finishes as NCAA National Runner-Ups after falling to St. Norbert College, 4-3, in the title game. The Bulldogs went 25-4-1 overall.