Women's Ice Hockey

UW-River Falls’ Olson Named AHCA Laura Hurd Player of the Year

**Release courtesy of UW-River Falls Sports Information

GLOUCESTER, Mass.--The American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) announced Bailey Olson of University of Wisconsin-River Falls as the 2024-25 recipient of the Laura Hurd Award, presented to the best player at the NCAA Division III women's hockey level by vote from the nation's head coaches.

The Hurd Award honors the memory of former Elmira College standout Laura Hurd. A 2005 graduate of Elmira, and a four-time All-American, Hurd died in an automobile accident shortly after graduation. She was the recipient of the AHCA Player of the Year Award in 2005.

UW-River Falls now has four Laura Hurd Player of the Year award winners in program history (tied for the most in Division III since the inception of the award in 2000), and three in the past four years; Bailey Olson (2025), Maddie McCollins (2024), Callie Hoff (2022) and Dani Sibley (2017).

Olson, a senior co-captain from Willmar, Minn., has led the Falcons to a 24-3-2 overall record this season, winning the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) regular season and the O'Brien Cup, earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. UW-River Falls defeated Elmira College (N.Y.) 4-1 in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals for a second consecutive season.

The WIAC Kwik Trip Player of the Year, Olson was also named an AHCA First Team All-American and was an All-WIAC First Team honoree. She currently is the NCAA Division III leading scorer with 56 points off 26 goals and 30 assists in 29 games.
 
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