Emily Kearns

WINONA, Minn. — Receiving post-season honors is nothing new to Saint Mary's University women's hockey player Emily Kearns (Hopkins, Minn.)

After all, for the third straight year, Kearns was among the 20 players selected to the All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference first team.

Kearns was the team's offensive leader in all three categories, netting 18 goals and 16 assists for 34 points in helping the Cardinals to an 11-7-0 MIAC finish and a tie for third-place in the final regular-season standings. Kearns not only led her team, but also the entire conference in goals, while her 33 points were second to Gustavus freshman Ingrid Neve.

As impressive as those numbers were, however, they only told half the story of Kearns' stellar senior season — just like her All-MIAC selection turned out to be just half of Kearns' post-season honors.

Sunday, Kearns was named to the JOFA-American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) West All-America First-Team.

Kearns appeared in all 26 games for the Cardinals (15-9-2) — who earned a berth in their fourth straight MIAC post-season tournament, where the Cardinals were eliminated by Augsburg 2-1 — scoring 22 goals and adding 21 assists for 43 points, all team highs. In her four years at Saint Mary's, Kearns scored a school-record 99 goals, while her 153 career points were second to Missy Westergren's school-record 154.

Other MIAC players joining Kearns on the JOFA West All-America First Team were Becky Kilpatrick (Sophomore, St. Thomas), Annie Annunziato (Senior, Augsburg), and Andrea Peterson (Freshman, Gustavus).

Kearns is just the second SMU women's hockey player to receive First-Team All-American honors. Goalie Missie Meemken was a First-Team All-American following the 2001-2002 season, while Meemken, Tennie McCabe and Missy Westergren were Second Team All-American selectins in 2000-2001.