Boston College Women’s Hockey’s Cayla Barnes Wins BCI’s Award for Female Rookie of the Year

With the BC Baseball :( and Lacrosse :'( seasons coming to an end this weekend, the 2018-2019 year in Boston College Athletics has officially come to a close. That means that we here at BC Interruption will be releasing our yearly awards in the coming days. The awards were voted upon by the members of the BC Interruption staff and range from Male & Female Players of the Year to players that we feel best represent what it means to be a Boston College Eagle.

This year we kick off the BCI Awards — the sports world’s most prestigious prize — with Female Rookie of the Year.

2018-2019 BCI Female Rookie of the Year
Winner: Cayla Barnes, Boston College Women’s Hockey

BC Women’s Hockey’s Cayla Barnes had an unconventional path to a being an esteemed recipient of a 2018-2019 Interrupty. She actually started her Boston College career in 2017 — that’s right, two years ago — when she joined the women’s hockey team as a freshman. She played in five games through late October 2017 before the US National Team shocked everyone by unexpectedly shaking up the roster. That shakeup saw BC’s true freshman get called up to the Olympic team in the run up to PyeongChang. Barnes withdrew from the university to take advantage of the opportunity to win Olympic gold (HELL YEAH she did), and ended up being a critical part of the American squad the broke the USA’s drought.

Fortunately for all of us Eagles, Barnes played in few enough games that she didn’t lose a year of college eligibility due to the extenuating circumstances. And after a full year of training with the greatest hockey players in the world, she returned to the Heights for her TRUE true freshman year as though she was a veteran.

Barnes put up a 4-19—23 line as a two-way defender, and while her scoring numbers were solid, her contributions to the team went well beyond just the numbers. She was relied on to play superhero minutes in every situation and made an impact in every one of Kelley Rink’s 200 feet. With the Eagles losing their top four scorers, their other two Olympic defenders, and four (!) of this year’s impact blueliners overall to either graduation or transfer, Cayla Barnes will be the centerpiece of the women’s hockey team’s rebuild over the next three years.

BC is incredibly lucky to have a player with the talent and integrity of Cayla Barnes on the roster for the next three seasons (or three of the next four, anyway — Beijing 2022 awaits...). The future is bright with her on the blue line.

Makayla Dickens of Boston College Women’s Basketball also received votes for this year’s BCI Female Rookie of the Year Award.