MANSFIELD, Mass. – Senior Joseph Fiorino (Willow Grove, Pa.) was named Northeast-10 Conference Defensive Player of the Year and Head Coach Sean Walsh was named Coach of the Year as the NE10 handed out ice hockey awards on Wednesday.  Five players, including Fiorino, earned All-Conference recognition.

Fiorino netted five goals and 14 assists this season and was also named to the NE10 All-Conference first team.  He finished the season with a +21 mark, which ranked second in the conference.  Fiorino is the first Penmen to be honored as Defensive Player of hte Year.   He is joined on the first team by junior George Thurston (Plymouth, Mass.).  Thurston led the league with 21 goals, and finished second with 33 overall points in his second season with the program.  In 2019-20, Thurston was the NE10 Rookie of the Year.  

Two Penmen earned recognition on the second team All-Conference.  Senior Jake Cox (Columbus, Ga.) led the league with 22 assists, and finished fourth in the league with 31 points.   Senior goalie Adam Mercer (Belchertown, Mass.) made the most of his first season at SNHU with 12 wins in 15 starts, and the top save percentage in the NE10 at .922.

SNHU also placed one member on the All-Rookie team, sophomore Matt Amante (West Hempstead, N.Y.).   In his first season at the college level, Amante tallied 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in 22 games.  He recorded a four-point game on January 22 against Franklin Pierce University with a pair of goals and two assists.

Coach Walsh was named the Coach of the Year by his peers for the second time in three seasons.   The SNHU alum took over the program prior to the 2017-18 season, and led the team to an NE10 Championship in 2018-19.   SNHU finished the 2021-22 with a 16-8 record, earning the first regular season title in program history.  The Penmen fell 3-2 to Post University in overtime in Tuesday night's conference semifinal.  

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