The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team landed three of the biggest Western Collegiate Hockey Association year end honors Thursday night, announced by the league at the WCHA Final Faceoff banquet.

Freshman center Caitlin Kraemer was named the WCHA Rookie of the Year, just the third-ever Bulldog to pocket the honor, while sophomore goaltender Eve Gascon was named the WCHA Goaltender of the Year – UMD's third honor of the kind in five seasons. For a second-consecutive season, graduate forward Clara Van Wieren was selected the WCHA's Outstanding Student Athlete of the Year – just the second-ever Bulldog to earn the heralded honor in back-to-back seasons.

Kraemer made a strong case for the award after posting 29 points, including the ninth-most goals in the WCHA this season. A Waterloo, Ont. native, Kraemer ranks third in the WCHA for power play goals and fifth in the NCAA. Three times the WCHA's Rookie of the Month (February, November, September), the rookie center has been the WCHA Rookie of the Week a whopping four times. Seven times this season, Kraemer has rung up two or more points in a game, including her first collegiate hat trick on Nov. 30 against Vermont. Kraemer is just a single point from becoming just the 13th UMD rookie to score 30 or more points as a freshman and has already scored the most points by a first-year player since Gabbie Hughes rang up 37 (18g, 18a) over the 2018-19 season. Kraemer is the first award winner in the category since 2007-08 when Haley Irwin claimed the honor, and prior to Irwin, Maria Rooth was the first-ever winner of the award for the program in the league's first year of existence in 1999-00.

Gascon's outstanding sophomore campaign already was recognized Thursday afternoon as a finalist for the HCA National Women's Goalie of the Year. Gascon is averaging 30.5 saves a game this season and has 12 times made 32 or more saves in a game, and six games of 40 or more stops. The native of Mascouche, Quebec was twice the WCHA's Goaltender of Month (December and September), December's HCA Goaltender of the Month, and was a three-time WCHA Goaltender of the Week. Gascon currently has a .943 saves percentage, and her 826 saves so far this season currently ranks as the 10th most saves in a single season in program history. Gascon joins former Bulldog great Emma Soderberg, who earned the nod in both 2022-23 and 2020-21. The league has only had the honor since the 2017-18 season – UMD now owns the most award winners (3).

Currently one of six finalists for the Coac Wooden Citizenship Cup, Van Wieren and 2024-25 Hockey Humanitarian nominee, is a a team captain. The native of Okemos, Mich. has a 4.00 GPA and is currently pursuing a Professional Studies master degree after she earned a Bachelor of Arts in both Political Science and Philosophy last May as a University Honors Program honoree. UMD's second leading scorer with a career-best 37 points on 18 goals and 21 assists, Van Wieren was named the All-WCHA Third Team Monday for her on the ice efforts already this season.

The graduate forward is a leader both on and off the ice, and is the definition of a well-rounded student athlete who also entirely embodies being a devoted member of the community and the value of serving others. With an eye on her masters degree and a full Division I women's hockey schedule, including a grueling fall semester of travel, Van Wieren has still made it a priority to give back to the community by using her leadership positions as both the president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and the co-president of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council. Both organizations, with the leadership  of Van Wieren, embarked on ambitious sets of initiatives and brought them to reality over the past year.

Van Wieren made it three WCHA Outstanding Student Athlete honors in a row Thursday night – Emma Soder won the honor a season before Van Wieren (in 2022-23. UMD owns the most winners of the award in league history with eight – Van Wieren will attempt to pull that number to nine and become the first back-to-back winner since Riita Schaublin did it in 2005-06 and 2006-07.