Northern Michigan University goaltender Oliver Auyeung-Ashton makes a big save during a CCHA game played against Lake Superior State at Taffy Abel Arena in Sault Ste. Marie on Jan. 3. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — The Central Collegiate Hockey Association has named finalists for three of its individual awards and a Northern Michigan University goaltender is among them.

Freshman Oliver Auyeung-Ashton was nominated for CCHA Rookie of the Year, joining fellow freshmen defenseman Brayden Crampton of Bowling Green State and forward Lucas Van Vliet of St. Thomas.

Three candidates were also named for the league’s Defensive Defenseman of the Year and Defensive Forward of the Year on Friday, with finalists to be announced for Defenseman of the Year, Goaltender of the Year and Forward of the Year on Monday.

Awards are scheduled to be announced on Tuesday through Friday, except for Coach of the Year, which won’t be announced until March 25, with finalists announced two days earlier.

The three award finalists announced Friday totaled nine players representing six of the league’s nine schools.

League coaches voted for the awards, but not for their own players, with media voting on top coach.

Auyeung-Ashton, hampered by several injuries during the season, had an exceptional campaign while on the ice, posting a .930 saves percentage and 2.67 goals-against average in 18 games.

His saves percentage was second only to Augustana’s Josh Kotai and his goals against fourth for goalies with at least 18 games.

Nationally, Auyeung-Ashton’s saves percentage is tops among freshmen with at least 18 games, just ahead of the University of Michigan’s Jack Ivankovic at .922, and his goals against is 10th on the list of freshmen netminders.

The native of Coquitlam, British Columbia, has earned several other honors this season. He was named to the “watch list” for the Mike Richter Award for best college goalie, along with nomination for the Hobey Baker Award going to the top college player overall.

He made his inaugural collegiate appearance in relief of junior transfer William Gramme in the Wildcats’ third game of the season at Ohio State on Oct. 10. He stopped all eight shots he faced in the third period that night, then turned away 45 of 47 shots the following night in NMU’s 3-1 loss.

With the 45 saves the most by a Northern freshman goalie in his first collegiate start in the “modern” era — since 2004 — that weekend earned him the CCHA Rookie of the Week honor with a 1.53 goals-against and .964 saves percentage in 78 minutes.

It was also the most saves by a Wildcats freshman in his first start since Atte Tolvanen stopped 46 on Oct. 30, 2015, and just the ninth time a freshman in the NCAA made 45 or more saves in his first start in the past two decades, including only the second time in the last seven years.

Auyeung-Ashton finished with four of the 12 highest single-game saves totals in the league this season, making at least 40 saves in each one of those games.

A highlight had to be a 38-save shutout posted in a 2-0 win over Bemidji State on Jan. 30. It was the third-most saves by a freshman in a shutout in the nation this season and sixth most in a shutout among all goaltenders.

After missing more than a month at midseason, he returned with back-to-back 28-save performances in a pair of 2-1 setbacks at Lake Superior State on Jan. 3-4.

Before the Wildcats, the 5-foot-10, 175-pound goalie played for the Victoria Grizzlies of the British Columbia Hockey League for three seasons. In his first year, 2022-23, he had a 21-14-6 record with a .927 saves percentage. By the end of year three, he was 50-29-12 in the regular season with eight shutouts, along with a 14-10-1 record in the postseason. He set Victoria records for games played by a goalie, wins and shutouts, while his .916 saves percentage was third in its history.

He won the BCHL’s Bruce Allison Memorial Trophy as top rookie, also earning a spot on the All-Rookie Team.

Among the other top rookie finalists, Crampton led CCHA rookie defensemen with 12 points, including three goals, in 25 league games as he also had a plus-7 rating.

He led all CCHA blueliners with 70 shots on goal as he blocked 21 shots and averaged just over 21 minutes ice time per game.

In all games, he finished with three goals and 17 points with a plus-5 rating and 25 blocks.

Van Vliet led league rookies with 17 assists and 27 points, playing in all but one conference contest. With a plus-3 rating, he had five power-play goals, one shorthanded and three game-winners.

His 78 shots were second-most among CCHA first-year players as he averaged just shy of 19 minutes per game.

In all games, he had 11 goals and 21 assists for 32 points, sixth in the league.

For the other finalists announced Friday, the Defensive Defenseman of the Year nominees are Jack Anderson of Michigan Tech, Hayden Hennen of Augustana and Mason Wheeler of Minnesota State-Mankato.

The Defensive Forward of the Year nominees are Hunter Bischoff of Augustana, Max Koskipirtti of MTU and Lucas Wahlin of St. Thomas.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the honor. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.