SRU places 11 on ECAC Northeast All-Academic Team

NEWPORT, R.I. - The Salve Regina University men's ice hockey program placed 11 student-athletes on the 2009-10 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Northeast All-Academic Team, tying them with Becker College for the most in the league.

Seniors Nate Burns (Sandwich, Mass.), Ryan Comerford (Merrimack, N.H.), Zach Sufilka (Lakewood, Ohio), and Tyler Trott (Rehoboth, Mass.) each earned a spot on the team, along with juniors Joe Colaianni (Monroe, N.Y.), Matt Kervick (Stoneham, Mass.), Matt Norraik (Rochester, N.H.), Bryan Russell (Essex Junction, Vt.), and Kevin Sullivan (North Branford, Conn.), and sophomores Ben Bradley (Newburyport, Mass.) and Henry DeSimone (Burlington, Mass.). Burns, Colaianni, Norraik, Russell, and Sullivan are all repeat honorees from a year ago, and the team nearly doubled last year's numbers of honorees (six).

A business studies major, Burns led all Salve Regina defenseman with 10 points (3-7-10) and scored the game-winning goal in the Seahawks 3-2 win over the University of New England on Nov. 13. Comerford is a business administration major who started eight games in goal after joining the team mid-season. Sufilka is an economics major while Trott, an administration of justice major, finished fifth in scoring with 12 points (8-4-12) in 26 games.

Colaianni appeared in 19 games for the Seahawks and registered 15 points (8-7-15) while majoring in business studies. Kervick (one goal in 25 games) is a business studies major, as is Russell, who netted five goals and dished out four assists in 25 games. Norraik recorded two assists in 22 games as an education/history major while Sullivan tallied eight points (2-6-8) in 26 games played.

Bradley is a business studies major and was in goal for the team's only win of the season at UNE. He finished with a team-high .876 save percentage. A financial management major, DeSimone skated in 15 contests in 2009-10.

Curry placed second with nine honorees, followed by Wentworth with eight, Nichols with seven, Johnson & Wales and Western New England with four each, and Suffolk with three.

The 2009-10 season marks the ninth year that the conference has named an all-academic team. A total of 57 student-athletes representing eight ECAC Northeast teams earned this honor based on outstanding performance in the classroom.

To be named to the team, a student-athlete must have completed at least one academic year, have a cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of at least 3.00 on a 4.00 scale, and have competed in at least one-half of his team's contests during the season (a goaltender must have played in at least 33 percent of his team's minutes).