WAKEFIELD, Mass. - The Women's Hockey East Association today announced the 2016-17 Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team and five other season-long awards as voted by the league's nine head coaches ahead of the 2017 Women's Hockey East Championship, March 4 and 5 at Boston University's Walter Brown Arena. The honorees will be recognized at Friday night's annual awards banquet.

The 2016-17 Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team consists of six players and includes defensemen Abby Cook (Kelowna, B.C./Boston University) and Whitney Dove (Port Moody, B.C./Providence) and forwards Delaney Belinskas (Port Orange, Fla./Boston College), Caitrin Lonergan (Roslindale, Mass./Boston College), Ève-Audrey Picard (Longueuil, Que./ Vermont), and Tereza Vanišová (Strakonice, Czech Republic/Maine).

Also set to be recognized at Friday night's ceremonies will be Boston College junior Megan Keller (Farmington Hills, Mich.) as Women's Hockey East's best defenseman for the second consecutive season. Keller was voted the unanimous winner for 2016-17. Northeastern senior Hayley Scamurra (Williamsville, N.Y.) will be honored as the best defensive forward during the regular season while Providence senior forward Cassidy Carels (Bruxelles, Man.) is set to be recognized with the conference's sportsmanship award. Two statistical award champions will also be acknowledged, including the league's top scorer, Boston University junior forward Victoria Bach (Milton, Ont.), and the ARMY ROTC Three Stars Award winner, New Hampshire senior forward Jonna Curtis (Elk River, Minn.), who accumulated the highest total of points from first, second, and third star accolades during Women's Hockey East league games over the course of the regular season.

The 15th annual Women's Hockey East Tournament championship wil l take place this weekend, Saturday, March 4, and Sunday, March 5, at Boston University's Walter Brown Are na. No. 1 Boston College will square off with No. 5 Vermont Saturday at 1:30 p.m., while No. 2 Northeastern and No. 3 Boston University take the ice at 4:30 p.m. The winners advance to Sunday's championship tilt at 1:30 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets online at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000. Tickets start at just five dollars.