Joe Woll is BCI’s Most Improved Male Athlete of the Year

In what was a down year for many on the Boston College men’s hockey team, Joe Woll continued his strong play in net, building on two impressive seasons as an underclassman to win BCI’s most improved male athlete award.

Both by the numbers and by the eye test, it’s hard to argue that Woll wasn’t one of the team’s best and most consistent players for the entire season. Woll improved on an already solid save percentage, jumping to .919 on the season despite experiencing long stretches where his team would bleed scoring chances. Woll started in 37 of the team’s 39 games, but never looked fatigued and was often the reason that his team was even competitive in some games.

His finest showings may have been in some of the most important games of the season for BC. Woll stopped 64 of 65 shots in a three point series against BU before turning in back-to-back monster performances in the Hockey East Tournament: clinching a series win over Providence by stopping 37 of 38 shots and shutting out top ranked UMass with a 36 save shutout in the semifinals.

Woll’s final record of 13-21-3 tells a distorted story of the season in which he posted his best save percentage and goals against average of his BC career. As the last line of defense on a team that was routinely out-shot and out-chanced, Woll won gave the Eagles a chance in just about every game they played.

At the end of his junior season, Joe Woll signed an entry level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Best of luck to Joe as he attempts to make his mark at the professional level, and congrats on the award!

Woll won this vote over teammate David Cotton, pitcher Dan Metzdorf, Nik Popovic of the basketball team, and football’s Brandon Sebastian.