Vicki BendusShe had them all in tears.

As Mercyhurst junior Vicki Bendus stood at a podium Saturday morning on the University of Minnesota’s campus to accept the top honor for a Division I female college hockey player, she looked toward her teammates.

“I know the season didn’t end up the way we wanted,” Bendus said, her voice breaking, “but be proud. Be proud of everything we accomplished. It was a great year. I’m sorry.”

Bendus, who became the first Mercyhurst player in the program’s history to win the Patty Kazmaier Award this weekend, had nothing about which to be sorry.

Though her team made an early exit from the Frozen Four on Friday night with a 3-2 overtime loss to Cornell, Bendus did have plenty of reason to be proud.

With 65 points in 36 games, she tied teammate Jesse Scanzano and Division I champion Minnesota Duluth’s Emmanuelle Blais, a senior, for the nation’s scoring lead.

Though her team made an early exit from the Frozen Four on Friday night with a 3-2 overtime loss to Cornell, Bendus did have plenty of reason to be proud.

With 65 points in 36 games, she tied teammate Jesse Scanzano and Division Ichampion Minnesota Duluth’s Emmanuelle Blais, a senior, for the nation’s scoring lead.

Not bad for a 5-feet-1-inch, 117-pound player who was once passed over by some college coaches because of her size.

“During the college recruiting process, not every team was willing to take a chance on me,” Bendus said at the podium. “But coach (Michael) Sisti thought that my head and my heart would make up for what I lack in size, which is quite a bit.”

She beat out the nation’s seventh-leading scorer, New Hampshire senior Kelly Patton, and Noora Rty, a Minnesota freshman goaltender who missed parts of the season while competing at the Winter Olympics.

“I think she would trade this honor for winning the national championship,” Sisti said. “That’s just the kind of person she is.”.

“(The Cornell loss) still hurts a ton,” Bendus said after the award ceremony. “I’d give anything to be able to go back and win that game.”