Orange's Flanagan named league coach of year

Syracuse University women's hockey coach Paul Flanagan was named College Hockey America Coach of the Year late Thursday night.

Flanagan, from Canton, guided the team to a 17-16-1 mark, an improvement of eight wins over the previous season, the first in program history. Flanagan has coached the Orange each of its two seasons.

"We're very fortunate in our short existence, which is barely two years old now, that we're not just comprised of freshmen and sophomores," Flanagan said. "We have some great senior and junior leaders."

SU freshman forward Isabel Menard was named CHA Rookie of the Year. She was third in the nation among freshmen with 34 points.

On Friday, SU won the first playoff game in program history, defeating Niagara 5-3 in the CHA semifinals in Detroit.