David Venditti, who helped the Mules to a team record 15 wins so far this season, has been named the 2006 New England Small College Athletic Conference Women's Hockey Coach of the Year by a vote of the league coaches.

First-year forward Laura Anning (Westminster/Ingramport, Nova Scotia) was named to the NESCAC All-Conference first team and teammate Genevieve Triganne (Westminster/Point-Claire, Quebec) was on the second team.

Venditti took over as head coach of Colby two years ago and helped the Mules improve by three wins last year to seven victories. With a fine recruiting class, Colby is already eight games better than last year's win total with a 15-7-1 record.

Colby, the fourth seed, will play at top-seeded Middlebury College in a NESCAC semifinal game this Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The winner will play in the title game on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Venditti has an 82-52-12 record in six seasons as a women's hockey head coach. He was 60-34-8 in four years with University of Southern Maine before becoming Colby's head coach. Venditti is a 1991 graduate of the University of Southern Maine and a former men's hockey player for the Huskies.

Anning currently leads the NESCAC in points per game (1.57) and is tied for total points with her 20 goals and 16 assists for 36 points. She ranks in a tie for first in goal scoring and is tied for fifth in assists. Anning also ranks in a tie for second in power play goals (6) and is tied for fifth in game-winning goals (3).

Triganne is currently ranked in a tie for second in the conference in save percentage (.916) and is fourth in goals against average (2.38). She has a 12-7-1 record this year and owns 19 wins in her two years at Colby.

Second-year head coach David Venditti helped the Colby College women’s hockey team improve by three wins last year and with a promising recruiting class, there is plenty of optimism for the 2005-06 season.

Sophomore goaltender Genevieve Triganne was a key last season for the Mules in keeping her team in games. She had a 2.87 goals against average and a .904 save percentage while playing all but 19 minutes in goal.

Triganne should get more help from Colby’s offense this year. The Mules scored 40 goals in 21 games last year in a 7-11-3 season, but should show marked improvement this year.

Colby lost much of its offense from last year, but Venditti expects first-year players Laura Anning, Rebecca Julian, Nicole Crocker, Amanda Comeau, Colette Finley, Laura Clemson, Heather Nickerson, Lauren Bizzari and Jennifer Caruso to have an immediate impact on the team.

Senior forward Lindsay Barada and forwards Margaret Chute '08, Lindsay Tedeschi '07 and MaryClaire McGovern '08 also will be counted on for offense.

Sophomore defensemen Lauren Goethals was the leading scorer among defenders with two goals and five assists for seven points. Marissa Mullane (2 goals, 2 assists), Caroline Voyles (2 goals, 1 assist) and team captain Caitlin Leahy (2 assists) all return on defense. The Mules also return Victoria Work on defense.

Triganne will likely see fewer minutes this year with the addition of two first-year goaltenders, Lacey Brown and Shelley Payne.

Colby plays five games during the first semester and then will compete in the Saint Michael’s Tournament on December 30-31. Besides the regular games against NESCAC opponents, the Mules also play two home games against Sacred Heart on February 10-11.

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