News & Announcements, W2 News

Women’s Division II Announces 2025 National Player of the Year (Zoe Harris Award)

by cperry

Women’s Division II Announces 2025 National Player of the Year (Zoe Harris Award)

 

TROY, Mich. – March 7, 2025 – The American Collegiate Hockey Association’s Women’s Division II (W2) is proud to announce Sam Sitterly, Eastern Michigan University (EMU), as the recipient of the 2025 Zoe Harris National Player of the Year Award.

 

This award is named in honor of Zoe Harris, the first Women’s Division Vice President, a member of the ACHA Hall of Fame, and a trailblazer for women’s hockey in the ACHA and beyond. The selection criteria includes outstanding individual and team skills, sportsmanship, on ice performance, personal character, competitiveness and a love of hockey. Consideration is also given to academic achievement.

 

Based on multiple nominations, including directly from Eastern Michigan’s leadership as well as fellow opponents of Eastern Michigan, Sitterly was ultimately selected by the votes of Women’s D2 coaches as this year’s Zoe Harris Award winner.

 

The 2024-25 season was Eastern Michigan’s inaugural season in the ACHA, and the team will enter the 2025 ACHA Women’s D2 National Championships for the first time in their program’s history as the #2 seed in the Central region. Sitterly, a freshman forward and the team’s first-ever Captain, has contributed significantly to EMU’s success as a program. So much so, that EMU is already committed to moving up to Women’s D1 for the 2025-26 season.

 

Sitterly led Women’s D2 this season in overall points (70), with 31 goals and 39 assists across 18 games, capturing an impressive points per game average of 3.89. These stats include 5 games with hat tricks, 3 powerplay goals, 4 short-handed goals, and a goal scored only 6 seconds into a game. Sitterly also kept her penalty minutes low, only serving 8 total penalty minutes all season.

 

Not only did Sitterly successfully navigate the on-ice challenges of her first year playing competitive hockey in the ACHA, but she also successfully navigated the challenges of being a first-year college student. Sitterly earned a 3.98 GPA in the fall of 2024, is an Honors College student at EMU, and is very involved with the team’s volunteering efforts within their community. According to her team, Sitterly prioritizes teammates before herself, displays strong leadership with relatability and making her teammates feel seen, and is always willing to give future prospects tours of campus during her free time. As Captain, Sitterly provides a strong support system to her teammates.

 

The 2025 W2 Coach of the Year, Central Michigan’s Chris Haney, took the time to write of Sitterly in a nomination recommending her for this award: “Sam has burst onto the ACHA W2 scene this year as a freshman, accumulating an astonishing number of points as a rookie. I was also impressed with the way she carries herself, doesn’t seem overly confident for such a good player. She exhibits good sportsmanship. She plays hard but clean. You can tell she loves the game.”’

 

Eastern Michigan Head Coach, Taylor Costella, shared that in her very first game, Sitterly went to hop over the boards for her first shift of the game, and fell off landing flat on her back. Costella noted that little did they know then, but those moments would be a regular occurrence with Sitterly, who for as much athletic ability as she displays on the stat sheet, is also quite carefree and clumsy. Costella shared that Sitterly has a special way of keeping the team smiling, laughing and on their toes, not taking herself too seriously. She frequently will skate by her team’s bench and have conversations with coaching staff mid-play. For example one time her coaching staff shouted praise in her direction about taking a good angle in a play, and as Sitterly continued skating by, looked back and said, “thanks bud, I thought so too!”

 

The ACHA congratulates Sitterly on this well-deserved award based on her outstanding performance as a player in Women’s D2 during the 2024-25 season. Her achievements exemplify the spirit of collegiate hockey and serve as an inspiration to players across the country.

 

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