March 4, 2009

INDIANAPOLIS - Boston University seniors Matt Gilroy and Allyse Wilcox have been selected to participate in the NCAA Frozen Four Skills Challenge on April 10 in Washington. Gilroy and Wilcox will compete for the East team, which includes six position players and two goaltenders of each gender.

The competition includes the top seniors from across all divisions in both men's and women's ice hockey. The players were selected by representatives from the American Hockey Coaches Association, the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee and NCAA national office staff. The competitions will include puck control relay, fastest skater, hardest shot, rapid fire shooting, accuracy shooting and penalty shot.

Gilroy, a Hobey Baker Award candidate, is the only Division I player to earn RBK All-America honors in both 2007 and 2008. The North Bellmore, N.Y., native leads all Hockey East defensemen in scoring with 28 points (8g, 20a) and was named MVP of the 2009 Wells Fargo Denver Cup. Gilroy, a captain of the BU men's team, has led the Terriers to a number one national ranking.

Wilcox has been the primary netminder on the women's team since the program's inception four years ago. She has written the first chapter of the Terrier record books with a career 2.31 goals-against average and .916 save percentage to go with a 43-42-11 record that includes seven shutouts. A Grand Blanc, Mich., native, Wilcox was selected as a first-team Hockey East All-Star last season and helped the Terriers enter the national rankings for the first time in program history this season.

Gilroy and Wilcox will be joined on the East team by male skaters Brock Bradford of Boston College, Zach McKelvie of Army, Matt Pierce of Mercyhurst and Joe Vitale of Northeastern, male goalies Keith Longo of Hobart and Alec Richards of Yale, female skaters Kayla Coady of Elmira, Sam Faber of New Hampshire, Marie-Jo Gaudet of Clarkson, Sam Hunt of Colgate, Helen Resor of Yale and Maggie Taverna of Boston College and female goalie Brittany Wilson of Connecticut. There is also a list of alternates in the event that players have to withdraw from the competition due to other commitments, such as their team's participation in the Men's Frozen Four.

The Frozen Four Skills Challenge begins at 8 p.m. on April 10 at the Verizon Center in Washington and will be preceded by the presentations of the Hockey Humanitarian Award at 6:30 p.m. and the Baker Award at 7 p.m.