McDonald, Kessler Among Nominees for 2010 Frozen Four Skills Challenge

Pictured: Senior forward Anna McDonald has six goal and four assists this season.
Photo courtesy: Gil Talbot Photography

Vote For The Skills Competition (fan vote is from Feb. 1-15)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Seniors Anna McDonald and Christina Kessler of the seventh-ranked Harvard women's hockey team are among 78 men's and women's collegiate hockey players from across the country to be nominated to participate at the 2010 Frozen Four Skills Challenge, to be held at Ford Field in Detroit in April.

To help determine the final 32 student-athletes who will participate in the skills challenge, the NCAA will incorporate fan voting.  Fan voting will begin Monday, Feb. 1 at www.ncaa.com/frozenfour and will conclude at noon, Monday, Feb. 15.  While fan voting will aid in the selection process, the ultimate decisions will be made by the NCAA selection committee by the end of February.  The final rosters will include male and female student-athletes.

McDonald, a forward from New Brighton, Minn., has scored six goals and handed out four assists for 10 points this season.  McDonald also boasts a +6 rating and netted the game-winning goal in the season opener at Colgate Oct. 30.  For her career, McDonald has lit the lamp 27 times, while dishing out 42 assists for a total of 69 points, the most of any active Harvard player.  McDonald was a member of the ECAC Hockey All-Star Team earlier this month and scored a goal in an exhibition against the U.S. Women's Olympic Team.

Kessler, who hails from Oakville, Ont., is Harvard's all-time winningest goaltender, having amassed 64 victories in her career.  She is also the NCAA's all-time leader in save percentage, having stopped 1,863 of 1,979 shots faced during her career (.9413).  An All-American during the 2007-08 season, Kessler ranks third in the nation this season with a save percentage of .944 and stands fourth with a 1.39 goals-against average.  Kessler, the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Year in 2007-08, has also registered a program-best 25 shutouts during her career with the Crimson.  Kessler will not be able to participate at the skills challenge because of injury.