It’s a new year of hockey and a very eye-opening experience if you’re unfamiliar with the current changes that have been made in the conference realignment realm of both Men’s & Women’s Division III hockey. Even if you’re aware of the newly added and/or departed teams from their respective conferences, this will be a valuable read for all involved.

In this article, we’ll discuss the realignment on the women’s side, providing an analysis regarding how each individual conference will be affected by the newly added teams, along with who it helps and who it hurts the most. Please take into account this is an overview analysis, this is in no way me “picking winners / losers”, but simply an analysis of how the newly-radical realignment will affect teams already in their respective league, along with the teams being moved and/or in their inaugural seasons.

We will also look into how this affects the future of the NCAA Tournament bids…

*Please note: this article does not discuss leagues where no realignment has taken place for the 2025-2026 season, these leagues include: CNE, MAC, MIAC, NCHA, & NESCAC*

Little East Conference (LEC)

Added:

Keene State (via D-III Independent)

New England College (via NEHC)

Norwich University (via NEHC)

Plymouth State (via MASCAC)

Univ. Southern Maine (via NEHC)

UMass-Boston (via NEHC)

VTSU Castleton (via NEHC)

Western Connecticut State (Inaugural season)

Departed:

N/A

Overall Thoughts

The Little East Conference has been around since 1986 and this will be the first ever season the league has sponsored Men’s & Women’s Ice Hockey. Largely composed of (as you see above) the former NEHC, but also in the mix are some MASCAC as well as new faces. This league will not receive an auto-bid on the women’s side for the NCAA tournament this upcoming 2025-2026 season, only the men will receive the AQ.

The LEC as I mentioned in the Men’s Conference Realignment Article, just makes sense from a geography perspective. Elmira travelling to Vermont & Maine didn’t make sense regardless of how fun the Norwich/Elmira games were. I’d like to see these two possibly play in the non-conference or the NCAA tournament again, but Elmira versus USM, Castleton, NEC, just didn’t make sense in my opinion.

I think the biggest intrigue besides geography is that Plymouth State, the winner of the MASCAC’s inaugural season is now an LEC member, I’m curious if a team has ever won back-to-back conference titles in two leagues that were in their first-ever seasons?

Norwich, entering the Justin Simpson head coaching era, looks to get back into the NCAA tournament, but will need an at-large which is extremely hard to come by, but their schedule will allow for it if they’re able to go near-perfect in conference play. The Cadets will face Plattsburgh, Williams, Morrisville, Cortland, Amherst, Oswego, & Elmira/Plattsburgh in the non-conference… an absolutely stacked non-conference schedule will allow for them to earn an at-large bid assuming they have a near-perfect conference record and knock off some of these teams. It’ll be exciting to see how Coach Simpson does in his first season at the helm.

Another intriguing team is Keene State, a former independent, the Owls went 13-12-0, playing a mix of competition, their signature win coming against Plymouth State, the MASCAC champs. Under Head Coach Rob Morgan and a big support system behind them, look for the Owls to be extremely competitive in this league.

Univ. Southern Maine will need to replace their former star goaltender Haley McKim’s production, a multi-time NEHC Goaltender of the Year, a career total of 100 games, finishing with a 1.87 GAA, .943 save-percentage, & over 6,000 minutes of ice-time. The Huskies will need someone to step up as McKim was the main reason they won the games they did and were in a lot of the big games.

Personally, I’m a big fan of this league, it just makes sense geographically and we’ll get to see more realistic matchups, along with a formerly independent program & a program in their inaugural season (Western Connecticut State). We will see how this season plays out for all!

Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC)

Added:

Salem State (via NEHC)

Departed:

Plymouth State (-> Little East)

Overall Thoughts

The MASCAC enters its second season of existence for women’s hockey. The biggest change here being their first ever conference winner Plymouth State is now gone to the Little East Conference as we just discussed. Flashback to last season, Plymouth State defeated Rivier in a four-overtime thriller, winning 2-1.

This league still lacks an autobid, but odds would say they’ll receive one next season, that decision is currently TBD.

The loss of Plymouth State will ultimately hurt everyone’s SOS rating as the Panthers would’ve more-than-likely been a favorite to win the league title shall they stayed. However, it’s hard to tell what their non-conference results and/or competition would’ve been, or if it even would’ve mattered, as it’s a most-likely situation where they (MASCAC) only receive the auto-bid, assuming they had one (which they don’t), not an at-large.

The addition of Salem State won’t make a massive difference at first. The Vikings have a program record of 41-146-10 (.234), dating back to the 2015-2016 season (inaugural). Last season, they finished with a record of 6-19-0 under 2rd year Head Coach Ray Kizzie. I think this league will benefit Salem State more than the rest of the league itself in the sense that the geography and strength of teams within the league will likely lead to more wins versus their former conference (now dissolved) the NEHC.

For reference, the highest NPI-rated team in the league last season was Plymouth State who held a record of 18-7-2, they were ranked 32nd (the lowest at-large bid was #7 Gustavus). Hence, why SOS won’t necessarily matter for this league in particular as if they want to see an NCAA tournament team, they’ll either need someone to go undefeated (and this may not make a difference) or receive an auto-bid as a league.

To be clear, this isn’t meant to be overly negative toward a league’s potential, but it’s simply the current reality they face as a non auto-bid league.

New England Hockey Conference (NEHC)

Added:

League has been dissolved at the conclusion of this past 2024-2025 season.

Departed:

Albertus Magnus (-> UCHC)

Elmira College (-> UCHC)

UMass-Boston (-> Little East)

New England College (-> Little East)

Norwich University (-> Little East)

Salem State (-> MASCAC)

Salve Regina (-> D-III Independent)

Univ. Southern Maine (-> Little East)

VTSU Castleton (-> Little East)

William Smith (-> SUNYAC)

The End of an Era

This is simply a quick note thanking a league that provided high-caliber hockey teams with exciting games year-after-year. Also, providing us with four National Champions (Elmira ’02,’03 & Norwich ’11,’18), along with an astounding 11 national runner-ups.

State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC)

Added:

William Smith (via NEHC)

Departed:

N/A

Overall Thoughts

The addition of the William Smith Herons helps this league on the women’s side mightily as it gets the number of teams up to an even-eight. The Herons’ Head Coach Matt Cunningham enters his 5th year at the helm, holding a career record of 50-51-5 (.495), going over .500 once.

William Smith has yet to make an NCAA tournament, but they’ve put together some solid seasons, most noteworthy being ’23-’24, finishing with a record of 17-9-1. This season, they’ll be without their biggest asset, former star goaltender Erin Murray ’25 as she will now be behind the bench at Manhattanville College as an Assistant Coach under Head Coach Jen MacAskill. These two teams will face off December 5th & 6th in Geneva, NY, so they’ll get to see their former teammate/player behind the opposing bench.

Murray, in her senior year finished with a record of 9-12-2, but held a 1.37 GAA & .948 save-percentage. Her highlight game was in the NEHC playoffs versus Norwich, making 62 saves in the 3-2 three-overtime loss. It will be vital for the Herons to replace Murray’s lockdown goaltending if they want to make a run at the SUNYAC title, but time will tell.

NCAA Tournament Implications

The implications of William Smith joining the SUNYAC should benefit everyone in terms of SOS, assuming the Herons don’t regress. We saw last season the SOS become an issue as the NPI viewed Colby’s regular-season record of 17-6-2, more impressive than Oswego State’s 22-3-2 (only losses to Plattsburgh 2x, Amherst & ties versus Cortland & Plattsburgh).

Hopefully, this can benefit the league as Cortland fell into this situation multiple times, losing out on the final at-large bid due to their apparent SOS. The SOS and NPI became the biggest talking point with the SUNYAC last season with Oswego having their best season in program history, along with the fact that they had blemishes to no worse than the #12 team in NPI. We will see if this league can get more than one bid, with the strength of the MIAC & NESCAC, we will see if this become a reality or not.

United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC)

Added:

Albertus Magnus (via NEHC)

Elmira College (via NEHC)

Hilbert College (D-III Independent)

St. John Fisher (Inaugural season)

Departed:

N/A

Overall Thoughts

To put it simply, thank the lord this league doesn’t have only four teams anymore. The addition of these four teams now brings the league total to eight and will benefit everyone.

The addition of Elmira College is a reunion as the Soaring Eagles are the only other program other than Nazareth to win a UCHC title. Elmira won four-straight UCHC titles from 2018-2021, then left for the now dissolved, NEHC. Since their departure, Nazareth has won the last four UCHC titles (2022-2025). Coming off a national runner-up in 2024 and a quarter finals loss to the eventual champion Wisconsin-River Falls last season, 3rd year Head Coach Greg Haney will look to continue the success the program has had as of late. Historically, Elmira has only ever won under 20 games five times… not including a shortened COVID season… a historic program holding three national championships and an alum ‘Laura Hurd’, what’s not to like about this addition here? They’ll look to end Nazareth’s title reign, while the Golden Flyers will look to defend it and be the sole-leader in conference championships (5).

St. John Fisher in many eyes will be a strong force relatively quickly under veteran Head Coach Scott McDonald, who won a national championship in 2012 at the helm of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and also was the national runner-up in 2011 with RIT. Besides McDonald’s experience, success, and recruiting hotbed of Rochester, NY / Buffalo, NY & surrounding areas, this is a school that invests heavily in everything they do, including athletics. Currently the school is building a brand new rink and facility for the men’s & women’s teams, it’ll be ready for opening night. Look for this team to be a contender in the league in the next few seasons if they aren’t right off the bat.

Albertus Magnus, unfortunately, has been known for more negative press than good press on the women’s side as of late, but nonetheless, can be considered a benefit to the league from a numbers perspective. The program has existed for three seasons, they began as an Independent, joined NEHC for a year, now the UCHC for their likely long-term home. The Falcons hold an overall record of 13-20-6 (.327) under Head Coach Steve Novodor.

If the program wants to be a successful force in this league (and by force we don’t mean hitting toward the head/neck area multiple times, eventually sending a Norwich player to the hospital with a fear of paralyzation, having video-footage of a goalie intentionally punching a Salve Regina player in the head as they’re down on the ice multiple times in quick succession, or having a team refuse an overtime period against them during an exhibition game due to their concern for their own players’ safety). If they can clean this up, maybe they’ll be successful, but until then, let’s hope no one gets hurt due to this constant recklessness that the staff in particular has shown no effort in changing based on consistent poor behaviors from all involved.

Hilbert College enters the league in a better spot than they’ve been in previously. Their roster totals 22 players, last season they only had 12 listed players, resulting in a, 0-16-0 season. Historically, the program was founded in 2022, they hold an overall record of 1-49-0 (.020).

They’ll be led by their third head coach in the program’s fourth season, Brian Becker, a SUNY Fredonia ACHA D-III alum, will look to change the direction of the program and stay for longer than two seasons to be the longest-tenured head coach for the program. The Hawks will have a complete schedule this season in a tough league, we will see if they can rattle off a few wins here and there. Regardless, joining the UCHC is a step in the right direction for a program with one career victory.

Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC)

Added:

Beloit College (Inaugural season)

Departed:

Northland College (-> school closed as of 2024-2025)

Overall Thoughts

The addition of Beloit College, a new program in Division III, will essentially replace Northland College who closed down at the end of this past academic year. The WIAC still doesn’t receive an auto-bid due to their lack of meeting the six-team minimum requirement for an AQ. Also, even if the WIAC added a sixth team, they would need it to be a ‘core’ member as they only have three and the minimum is four for an AQ (UW-Superior isn’t a core member, only UWRF, UWEC, & UWSP).

Essentially, Beloit replaces Northland, many of the players transferring over, but they’ll be without their Head Coach Jake Bobrowski who was originally announced as the leader of the program, but left for his former program Hamline University where he spent years as an assistant under Natalie Darwitz. Bobrowski will look to return the Pipers to their NCAA tournament success.

The Buccaneers new Head Coach will be first year Head Coach Kelly Millins. Millins is an Elmira alum ’24 and coached last season as an assistant for Wilkes University who made their first ever NCAA tournament, falling to Colby in round one.

Division III – Independents

Added:

Salve Regina (via NEHC)

Departed:

Keene State (-> Little East)

Hilbert College (-> UCHC)

We discussed the two teams who are no longer independent (Hilbert & Keene State), but the team we didn’t expect to see here is Salve Regina University. They’ll be returning to the CNE in 2026-2027 as an ‘affiliate / hockey-only’ member, but for this season, they’ll play as an independent. Unfortunately for the women’s program, they were largely dragged into this mess via school administration and the men’s program. Read out story on this situation here.