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WESTFIELD, Mass. – Fitchburg State sophomore Sascha Figi was selected as the 2018-19 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men’s Ice Hockey Player of the Year and headlines the All-Conference team which is selected by a vote of the league’s seven head coaches.

Figi, from Kloten, Swtizerland, was the league’s leading scorer averaging 1.77 points per game. He scored a league-best 25 goals and handed out 21 assists giving him 46 points on the season. The sophomore forward was especially dangerous as part of the league’s second-most efficient power play unit. He was the MASCAC leader in both power play goals (12) and power play points (24).

Westfield State’s Jake Ratcliffe, a Canterbury, New Zealand native, earned MASCAC Rookie of the Year honors. He was the league’s leading freshman scorer with 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points, which ranked him 15th overall in the conference. His goal total also placed him in a tie for eighth in the conference in goal-scoring. Ratcliffe picked up three game-winners this season.

The Owls head coach Bob Miele was voted as the 2018-19 MASCAC Champion’s Choice Coach of the Year. Miele led his team to an 11-6-1 conference record and the No. 2 seed in the MASCAC Championship Tournament.

As the Player of the Year, Figi also earned a spot on the All-Conference First Team as a forward. Joining him were Michael Covach and Matt Volonnino from Plymouth State. There were also two Panthers picked as First Team defensemen as Victor Bergstrom and Tim Perron both earned selections. Fitchburg State’s Brian McGrath was the First Team goaltender.

On the Second Team at forward were Nick DiNicola from Fitchburg State, Mike Moran from Worcester State, and Ryan Stevens from Plymouth State, while Connor McPherson from Fitchburg State and Cody Weaver from Worcester State were the Second Team defensemen. Westfield State’s Thierry Messervier was the Second Team goaltender

The Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, the nation’s first Division III men’s and women’s playing conference, has a rich and storied tradition of competitive success while celebrating excellence in the classroom.  MASCAC core member schools include Bridgewater State University, Fitchburg State University, Framingham State University, MCLA, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Salem State University, Westfield State University and Worcester State University.  Two other institutions, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Plymouth State University, are affiliate members of the conference in the sports of football and men’s ice hockey, while Western Connecticut State University joined the conference as an affiliate member in football beginning in 2013.