After being named a finalist for the honor, Robert Morris women’s hockey freshman forward Alaina Giampietro has been announced as the 2024 Nicole Hensley Rookie of the Year. College Hockey America (CHA) made the announcement this Wednesday afternoon.
ALAINA GIAMPIETRO IS YOUR @CHAWomensHockey ROOKIE OF THE YEAR👏👏👏@alainagiampietr is the fifth player in program history to win the Nicole Hensley Rookie of the Year Award‼️
📰: https://t.co/BKdgOvGfYp #BobbyMo #CollegeHockeyAmerica pic.twitter.com/lO2x1ELCV6
— RMU Women's Hockey (@RMUWHockey) February 29, 2024
A native of Strongsville, Ohio, Giampietro ended her freshman season with 31 points on 19 goals and 12 assists. She led all CHA rookies in the 2023-24 campaign with her goal total, and currently, she is tied first among NCAA freshmen in goals (19), game-winning goals (4) and is fourth in points (31).
While this one is certainly the most exciting, Giampietro is not new to receiving a CHA award during her rookie season. In October, the spotlight began when she was tabbed Hockey Commissioners Association and the CHA’s Rookie of the Month. In February she was once again named Rookie of the Month by the conference, and she earned Rookie of the Week honors four times.
The CHA Rookie of the Year award is named after former Lindenwood goaltender, Nicole Hensley. She was the first goalie to earn CHA Rookie of the Year, the American ice hockey player is the CHA career, season, game and postseason game saves record-holder, and has been in the Olympics on the U.S. Women’s International Team.
Giampietro is the fifth freshman in program history to earn the award, the most recent being Jaycee Gebhard in the 2016-17 season. With their first year back to the program after being cut, new players such as Giampietro did not wait to make an impact.
