Meet the 2016 Beauts Draftees

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The NWHL held their 2nd annual entry draft at the end of June. Twenty women were drafted between the founding four teams.

This year the Buffalo Beauts held the number two pick in the draft.

Let’s meet the five ladies the Buffalo Beauts drafted in the 2016 draft.

Lee Stecklein – Defense – Minnesota

 

Stecklein played in all 41 games during the 2012-13 season (freshman year). She scored 12 points and had an incredible on-ice rating of +35.

During what would have been her sophomore year at Minnesota, Stecklein competed in the 2014 Olympic games with the United States. She was the youngest member of Team USA and notched an assist during their silver medal run. This was not the first time she experienced success at the international level. In 2013, 2015, and 2016 Stecklein won a gold at the World Championships held in Canada and Sweden.

Her sophomore year (2014-15) brought a bigger, stronger, faster, and hungrier Stecklein. Right off the bat, she was named the assistant captain of the team. Naming Stecklein assistant captain proved to be a good decision. In 40 games, she scored 27 points putting her among the top five defensive scorers in the nation. Stecklein sacrificed her body game after game with 59 blocked shots. No one was going to score on her watch.

By the end of the 2014-15 season, Stecklein racked up a plethora of awards including AHCA/CCM Second Team All-American, All-USCHO First Team, All-WCHA Frist Team, and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar.

During summer break she would win a gold medal with Team USA at the 2015 IIHF Women’s World Championship.

At the start of Stecklein’s Junior season, she was named co-captain alongside second overall 2015 NWHL Draft pick, Hannah Brandt. It’s obvious being a captain motivates Stecklein as she finished the season with a career-high 30 points (8 g , 22 a). She also ended the season second on the team with a +50.

Cayley Mercer – Forward – Clarkson

Mercer had quite the high school hockey career.

The Bluewater Junior Hawks trusted Mercer to captain their squad to many victories.

In 2010 and 2011, Mercer participated in the Summer Series with Team Canada. She would then go on to represent Canada at the U-18 World Championships in 2011 and 2012. Team Canada would win silver (2011) and gold (2012) medals.

At the end of the 2012 U-18 World Championship, Team Canada’s coaches named Mercer one of the top three players on the team throughout the tournament.

Sidelined with a leg injury, Mercer would have to wait until the 2013-14 season to get back on the ice and start her collegiate career.

Mercer reminded the world she was still around in Clarkson’s first game of the season scoring a power play goal and notching an assist. Clarkson would go on to win, 12-1.

Sophomore year brought about more success for Mercer. With 44 points (24g, 20a) she was named MVP of the team, nominated for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, and won the Ron Frazer Award.

The Ron Frazer Award is given to the Clarkson player who has made significant contributions to the team’s success as well as elevated their style of play during key situations on the ice.

During Junior year, Mercer’s 25 goals, 25 assists ,and 15 multi-point games would secure her the title of MVP for the second year in a row.

She would also go on to become the 10th player in Clarkson’s history to reach 100 career point. Mercer’s sister, Carley, holds the number two spot on the list with 150 points.

Hayley Scamurra – Forward – Northeastern

Before heading to Northeastern, Scamurra helped lead the Burlington Junior Barracudas to two straight top-01four finishes in their league. During Scamurra’s time with the Junior Barracudas, she would sit among the top four scoring leaders with 22 goals and 38 assists over 58 games.,

Scarmurra would then captain the Oakville Junior Hornets, playing in 28 games scoring 25 points.

As a Freshman at Northeastern, Scamurra led all Northeastern rookies in points with 22 (7g, 15a). She would also be named to the WHEA All-Rookie Team.

During Sophomore year, Scamurra would play 3rd on the team in goals (10) and 5th on the team in assists (5).

Scamurra would up the anti her Junior year scoring more points than the previous two seasons combined with 43 (14g, 29a). Her 137 shots on goal would give her the number two spot on the team.

Emma Woods – Forward – Quinnipiac

Woods attended Paris District High School where she played eight different sports including hockey. While playing for Paris District, she was named MVP three times, captained the team twice, named Senior Female Athlete of the Year, and won the Phyllis Gretzky Memorial Award.

The Phyllis Gretzky Memorial Award is given by the Brantford Sports Council to the female athlete who possesses strong leadership qualities.

She would then go on to captain the Cambridge Rivulette’s of the Pioneer Women’s Hockey League.

Woods had a strong first year with the Quinnipiac Bobcats scoring 25 points in the form of 13 goals and 12 assists. ECAC Hockey named her Rookie of the Week three times which was one less than Yale’s Phoebe Staenz.

During Freshman year, Woods never fell out of the top 15 in the country for points per game among first-year skaters. She also had the highest plus-minus rating among rookies with +12.

Woods scored one less point her Sophomore year than Freshman year but managed to sit atop the Quinnipiac leaderboard in multiple categories.

When the Nutmeg Classic rolled around, Woods was named Most Outstanding Player after scoring two goals and an assist in the tournament.

Recognizing her tenacity and consistency, Quinnipiac named Woods their assistant captain for the 2015-16 season. She would go on to score 23 assists and 11 goals for a total of 34 points. All three stats were the third highest on the team.

Woods 335 face-off wins were both a career high and team high. She also led all words in shots with 21.

Recently, Woods was named captain for the start of the 2016-17 season at Quinnipiac.

Maddie Elia – Forward – Boston University

Elia attended Nichols School and captained their hockey team to a North American Prep Hockey Association and CISAA Championship her senior year.

She also captained the Buffalo Bisons for two seasons. In 2012, she led all scorers at the USA Hockey Championship with seven goals and nine assists over six games.

Boston University would become Elia’s collegiate home.

She played in 38 games tallying 28 points (13g,15a) freshman year. Those 28 points placed Elia second among Hockey East Freshmen in scoring.

Game winners and Elia went together like peanut butter and jelly. She scored the game-winning goal during the Hockey East Championship and the Hockey East Semifinals. As well as assisting the game winner in the Hockey East Quarterfinal.

During sophomore year, Elia notched seven goals and 12 assists. Two of those goals were scored in the Hockey East semifinal and the Hockey East Championship.

Junior year brought a faster and more focused Elia to the ice.

She was named Hockey East Player of the Week after an outstanding performance in the Beanpot.  Of the seven points she scored in the tournament three of them were against Harvard.

Elia ended the season with 15 goals, 14 assists, and eight multi-point games.

 

The Buffalo Beauts kick off the 2016-17 season against the Boston Pride on October 7th.