Senior CLASS Award Release | Vote for Higgs

TROY, N.Y. – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) student-athlete Brock Higgs has been named a finalist for the 2013-14 Men's Hockey Senior CLASS Award. A forward, he is one of the 10 players remaining under consideration for the honor, which will be voted on by coaches and members of the media. There will also be a fan vote, which can be found at http://www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/hockey_2013-14/.

A senior from Kingston, Ont., Higgs is a business and management major who is also working on a master's degree in management, with a concentration in finance. He has a 3.67 cumulative grade point average and expects to graduate with both degrees in August 2014. He has been on the Dean's List every semester and has earned ECAC Hockey All-Academic all three years eligible to date.

Higgs has been a stalwart in the community since arriving on campus. He has assisted local youth hockey teams of the Troy Albany Youth Hockey Association (TAYHA) with practices and he has been a counselor at the RPI Hockey Camp every fall. He has also participated in Habitat for Humanity, helping build houses in Troy for the less fortunate. Brock and his teammates also assist the RPI Newman Center with their fundraising activities each fall and they spend time supporting various other causes and participating in charitable events, including the City of Troy's Turkey Trot, the United Way and the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.

On the ice, Higgs has played in all 30 games for the Engineers this season, scoring a career-high 14 goals with 14 assists for 28 points. Three of his tallies have come on the power-play, while one was a game-winner and two were shorthanded goals. He is currently second on the team in goals, assists and points. He is second in ECAC Hockey in shorthanded points (3) and shorthanded goals (2), seventh in overall goals and 13th in points.

Through 18 ECAC Hockey games, the alternate captain has 10 goals and seven assists for 17 points. He is third in goals in league games and 14th in points.

Higgs, a former member of the Kingston Voyageurs, played in 33 games as a junior tallying a goal and 16 assists for 17 points. His totals included a short-handed and game-winning goal. In 2011-12, he led the Engineers with 23 points on three goals and 20 assists in 34 contests. His freshman campaign saw him net nine goals, to go along with 12 assists for 21 points in 33 games.

To date, Higgs has totaled 27 goals and 62 assists for 89 points in 130 career games at Rensselaer. He has helped the team an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2010-11, as well as a second place finish in ECAC Hockey – its top final league position since the 1992-93 season – last year.

CLASS is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School. The Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2014 NCAA Men's Frozen Final Four in Philadelphia, Pa., in April.