Now that the dust has begun to settle, and the hierarchy has started to settle into place, I thought it was time to start doing some high-level coverage of the MASCAC, just like I do with the Hockey East. As our loyal followers know, we cover the MCLA Trailblazers very closely due to multiple affiliations to players on the team, and we take pride in building up the young men on that roster through our objective evaluations of their games. With that in mind, we have spent enough time so far in 2023 watching MASCAC hockey to a point where it makes sense to spend a little bit of time talking about all 8 programs in one place for people who want to follow d3hky more closely.

               Thursday night saw all 8 MASCAC programs in action. Framingham State would pick up their 2^nd win of the season against MCLA 5-3. Samuel Larkin would record 2-points for Framingham, including the game-winner against goaltender Nick Imhof. Of note for MCLA was a 2-goal performance from Sean Schifferl. Plymouth State would move to 7-1-2 on the season with a 3-1 win against UMass Dartmouth. Will Redick and Anton Jellvik continued their offensive tear by recording 2-points each in the win. Daniel Davidson was a bright spot in goal for the Corsairs once again with 50 stops on 52 shots. Fitchburg State managed to squeak out a tight 3-2 win in overtime against Westfield State. The always reliable Antoine Gignac recorded the overtime winner for Fitchburg State. Kevin Chandler continued his solid season for the Owls by stopping 43 of 46 in the defeat. Worcester State got their offensive rolling in a 5-2 victory over Salem State. Martin Dlugolinsky was fantastic, recording 3-points in the win. Also of note, Jakub Kubik was great as well, stopping 43 of 45 shots.

               Saturday also saw all 8 teams in action, with Framingham State, Worcester State, and Plymouth State all extending Thursday momentum into a weekend long winning streak. Framingham State upset Fitchburg State 3-1. Cameron Lindsay ended up scoring the game winner while shorthanded in the second period. Worcester State defeated MCLA 5-3 in a game where Anders Grongstad was incredible, recording 3 assists. Plymouth State got the offense going in a 6-1 victory over Salem State. Will Redick would stay hot from his 2-goal performance on Thursday by churning out a 3-goal performance in this game. Kalle Andersson was also good in goal, stopping 35 of 36. Westfield State defeated UMass Dartmouth 3-2 in what looks to be a pivotal game for the Owls. Daniel Finegan was key in the win for Westfield State, having recorded 3 assists, but perhaps an even bigger story is Valtteri Valtonen returning from injury to stop 43 of 45 shots. Chandler has been great for Westfield State so far this season, and with the shot volume he has seen, the return of last year’s starter (and debatably the conference’s top netminder from that campaign) can only be seen as a tremendous boost for this group heading into 2024.

               Overall, as the first half of the season ends, the only thing that we can say for certain in the MASCAC is that the hierarchy from years prior is still intact. Plymouth State and Fitchburg State have done what we expected them to do. Westfield State, UMass Dartmouth, and Worcester State continue to find ways to be competitive and fight their way into the top half of the conference standings. Salem State gave their fans a lot of excitement in the opening weeks of the season after the slog that last year was, but they have settled back down to earth in recent weeks. Framingham State is a team who is certainly trending upwards here at the end of 2023. MCLA, as the new kids on the block, are still finding their identity in the crowd, and may surprise some teams in 2024, or continue their trend of good, but not quite good enough that they’ve been on during intraconference play. No matter how you slice it, the 2024 portion of the 2023-24 season is going to be a lot of fun.