I would like to open this new series by saying I know that I am a whole year early on starting this series, and that I’m aware the Little East Conference will not officially be a hockey “league” until the 2025-26 season. However, in anticipation of its massive impact on the New England Division 3 hockey landscape in the coming year(s), it is aligned with our (my) interest(s) to start this series in 2024-25, with the intention of being a true small-media partner of documenting the history and impact of this conference in its early years, as well as continuing with our mission statement of building awareness, visibility, and appreciation for Division 3 student athletes as they either continue to pursue hockey at a professional level, or maintain a documented record of their athletic accomplishments that they will have invested at least 20% of their entire lives (and almost 100% of their current lives) to. With all the sentimental and ego-gratification out of the way, let’s talk about some hockey, eh?

               On Friday night, perennial nation tournament contenders, and current MASCAC favorites Plymouth State played host to the 8^th ranked (nationally) Plattsburgh State. Through the first two periods of the game, both teams played evenly in terms of shot generation and suppression, as well as scoring. Plymouth would lead the shot total by a rate of 25 to 22, with both teams scoring two goals each in the first forty minutes. Spencer Bellina and Tyler Ramm had the goals for Plattsburgh, with Connor Tait scoring both Panthers’ goals (both assisted by Will Redick as well). Jack Sacratini would score 3:37 into the third period for Plattsburgh, putting Plymouth into their third straight game where they have trailed in the third period. Less than five minutes later, Connor Tait (from Will Reddick again) would complete the hat trick to notch the game back to even. With just over 4 minutes left in regulation, Freshman (and Georgetown Raiders’ product) Luca Rea would put a puck by Eli Shiller to get Plymouth a 4-3 lead. With less than 30 seconds left in the game, Ethan Stuckless buried an empty net goal to push Plymouth State’s lead to an insurmountable 5-3 to secure their first victory of the season.

               On Saturday night, Plymouth State visited New England College. This game started with a similar deadlock in the first period as they experienced the previous night. Despite outshooting NEC 12-5 in the opening frame, the score was tied at one with PSU’s goal coming from Will Redick (Tait also recorded an assist) and NEC’s coming from Paul Waldhauser. The deadlock did not continue through the second period as Redick, Ethan Stuckless, and Will Pray would all record goals within the middle frame to extend the PSU lead to 4-1. Cameron Patton would add one more insurance marker in the third period to bring the final score of the game to 5-1. For the weekend, the key takeaway for Plymouth State, is that their offense is firing as hot as it was last season against strong competition, which spells great things for them, and likely disaster for most of their current intraconference opponents. Redick scoring 6 points this weekend while Ethan Stuckless and Tait each notched 5 is a sign that this team will reckon with anyone in the country this year.

               On Friday night, Babson College visited 9^th ranked (nationally) Skidmore College in the first of two games. Babson played a tight first period that saw them out-shoot Skidmore 10-7; however, Cooper Rice was able to take advantage of late first period power play to put Skidmore up 1-0 with less than two minutes in the frame. Six minutes into the second period, Ethan Heidepriem would bring Skidmore’s lead from 1 to 2 at even strength. On the power play, Brendan Murphy would bring Babson within one goal, but Evan Brown would answer for Skidmore less than two minutes later to bring their lead back to 2 goals. Charlie Andriole would score another goal for Babson in the third period, but an incredibly tight defensive effort by both teams would limit Babson’s comeback to just 8 shots on goal in the third period, allowing Skidmore to hold on for a 3-2 victory.

               Saturday night, Babson and Skidmore would play another low shot generation game; however, the scoreboard was more tilted in Skidmore’s favor in the rematch. Zach Lindeworth and Zach Frisk would both score for Skidmore in the first period to Wyatt George’s sole goal for Babson. A similar ratio of two goals to one was continued in the second period as Frisk would strike again with a goal from Will Dow-Kenny supporting, while Babson only got one goal from Ian Driscoll. Cooper Rice would have the only goal of the third period as Skidmore would close the game out by a final score of 5-2. On the upside in the losses is that Babson’s defense is legit in their ability to prevent a top 10 opponent from breaking Corsi/Fenwick metrics wide open against them.

               Keene State opened their weekend on Thursday night at home against Westfield State. In the first battle of the Owls, Westfield threw the kitchen sink at Keene State in the first period, outshooting them 15-3; however, Ben Skelton stood strong, keeping the game scoreless for Keene State through twenty. Just over halfway into the second period, Keene State’s Thor Hansen would notch a powerplay goal to give his team a 1-0 lead that would carry into the intermission. Just past the midway point in the third period, Luke Festa would put away an unassisted goal to give Keene State a 2-0 lead despite being on the wrong end of a lopsided shot count. With just over three minutes in the third, Cooper Board would bring Westfield back within one goal. However, Keene State would hold strong against Westfield’s last-ditch effort to tie the game, with Kyle Gonzalez icing the game with an empty-net goal with three seconds left in the game to give Keene State a 3-1 regulation win, the first of its kind in program history at the division 3 level.

               The Owls were back in action on Saturday, this time on the road against the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs. The Owls did not suffer the same slow start they did on Thursday with Luke Festa scoring within the first 5 minutes of the game, and Marcus Chrisafideis notching another with less than two minutes left in the period. Despite the hot start, Erik Noack’s Corsairs responded in force with great team play and shot selection in the second period. Hunter Scanlon would bring the Corsairs within one less than two minutes into the second period, and Vincent Nicosia would find the equalizer before the midpoint in the frame on the powerplay. Kevin Johnston would finish the shift in momentum for Dartmouth with less than four minutes left in the second to give the Corsairs a 3-2 lead. In the third, some penalty trouble broke out for both sides, but the last high impact play of the game was a powerplay goal from Collin Patterson that would solidify a 4-2 win for UMass Dartmouth. In an exciting turn of events, these teams will meet once again next Saturday on November 16^th.

               On Friday Night, Norwich hosted Albertus Magnus College for the first half of a back-to back series. The opening period of the game was tightly contested as Norwich outshot Albertus by a ratio of 7-5, and both teams managed to generate one goal apiece in the latter half of the period with Nick Cordeiro scoring for Norwich and Caden Pattison answering for Albertus. Norwich opened the game up in the second, outshooting Albertus 17 to 4, and an early goal from Owen Sclisizzi giving them a 2-1 lead that they carried to intermission. Kyle Kudrna extended the Norwich lead to 3-1 less than two minutes into the third period. However, William Lavigne and Tyler Ignazzitto would strike back within two minutes of each other on the power play to draw the score to 3-even. Despite Albertus Magnus’ surge, Matt Harvey was the hero on the day for the Northfield, Vermont crowd, as he secured the game winning goal for Norwich three minutes later.

               In the Saturday rematch, the first period had a similar timbre to it, but this time around both teams managed to keep the nets puck free for the opening twenty. The second period was a similarly defensive contest, but Clark Kerner broke the scoreless draw for Norwich just past the six-minute mark of the second period. Paden Hicks would not allow the Norwich lead to last; however, equalizing the score seven minutes later. Despite the tight defenses, Nick Cordeiro was able to score within the final minute of the period to ensure Norwich went into intermission with a one-goal lead. Yet again, the third period would only see single digit shot totals for both sides, but Norwich’s quality was higher this time around, with Colin Elliot and Johnny Johnson both scoring in the frame, leading Norwich to a 4-1 win on the night.

               On Friday night, Elmira visited Southern Maine for the first half of a back-to-back series. In a very even shot generation period, Elmira managed to get through the first period with a 1-0 lead courtesy of a powerplay goal by Bailey Krawczyk. The second period would see a slight edge in shots on goal for Elmira, but both teams would tally a goal, with Jeff Pollara scoring for Southern Maine with six minutes left in the period, and Elmira’s Carter Wisely answering his goal less than two minutes later. Southern Maine would have a slight edge in shots on goal generation in the third period, but Seth Ferguson and Nathan Young would both score goals for Elmira in the closing three minutes of the game to solidify a 4-1 victory.

               In a Saturday night rematch, Southern Maine hosted the second half of their back-to-back series with Elmira. Southern Maine got off to as bad of a start as they could’ve wanted as Ryan Reifler got Elmira ahead by one less than a minute into the game, with Chance Gorman adding a second goal to the Elmira lead within the game’s first five minutes. The game would tighten up over the rest of the first period, as both teams would fail to generate double digit shots on goal. Owen Drummey would strike back for Southern Maine just past the two-minute mark in the second period to cut his team’s deficit in half. The shot totals in the second period would be low for both teams once again. Austin Marini would find the equalizer for Southern Maine with the same cadence in the third as Drummey did in the second. However, Elmira would outshoot Southern Maine 13 to 4 over the course of the period, dictating the flow of momentum for the rest of regulation. 41 seconds into the overtime period, Elmira’s Carter Wisely would end the game on the first shot of the 3-on-3 to give Elmira the 3-2 (OT) win.

               At the time of writing (due to balancing my work/life/journalism balance of getting content out when I have the time to do so), UMass Boston played the first half of their back-to-back series against Salve Regina on Saturday. Similar to Southern Maine’s plight on Saturday night, Boston found themselves down 2-0 within three minutes of the first period following quick goals from Aidan Connolly and Arvega Hovsepyan. Jazz Krivstov managed to generate an answer in the back half of the period for Boston to carry a one goal deficit into the second period. UMass Boston tightened their shot allowance in the second period, but Walter Baumann and Johnathan Hammel replicated Salve Regina’s first period success and extended their lead to 4-1 within in the opening minutes of the second frame. Krivstov struck again for Boston toward the end of the period, to enter the third with a 2-goal deficit. Jakob Teply bit back for Boston less than two minutes into the third period to draw them within one goal, but Logan Calder would bring Salve Regina’s lead to 5-3 just past the middle point of the third period. Kevin Sadovski would score a goal for UMass Boston with 10 seconds left in regulation to bring the final score to 5-4, but it was not enough to force overtime.

               On Friday night, VTSU Castleton hosted 1^st ranked (Nationally) Hobart. The opening period was a moral victory for Castleton as they managed to remain in a scoreless draw and were only outshot 11-8 by the reigning national champions. Hobart opened their offense up in the second period with a 16-4 shots edge and two goals from Ignat Belov and Dominic Schimizzi. Castleton mounted their offense in the third period, outshooting Hobart 14-9. Matthew Iasenza would extend Hobart’s lead to 3, but Jackson Edwards would score one Castleton’s effort to mount a comeback, denying Damon Beaver the shutout; however, Castleton would fall 3-1.

               In the Saturday evening rematch, Hobart controlled possession and the pace of play from the opening puck drop. Mirroring Friday night, both teams were scoreless after one as the Castleton defense and goaltender Josh Ward stood tall. Tanner Daniels would score for Hobart toward the middle of the second period, which brought the game to its second intermission as a 1 goal game, still within the reach of Castleton. 8 minutes into the third, Chris Duclair would extend the Hobart lead to 2 goals on the powerplay before Adam Mendelson extended the lead to 3 less than five minutes later. Castleton would not be able to mount enough offense to generate a goal, and Mavrick Goyer completed the shutout for Hobart.

               Overall, this early November weekend of hockey was incredibly eventful for prospective LEC programs. Plymouth State is back on track following a tough opening weekend and are priming themselves for another run at a National Championship. NEC had another tough loss to Plymouth, and their schedule for the rest of the season doesn’t have many chances to come up for air due to strong opponents the rest of the way, but as the saying goes “pressure creates diamonds.” Keene State continues to grow as a group, their efforts this weekend are a reason for confidence looking ahead to their upcoming opponents in 2024. UMass Dartmouth looks like they’re picking up where they left off in 2023-24 and should have a fun revenge tour against the MASCAC after their controversial defeat in last year’s conference semifinals. Norwich’s offensive efficiency was solid this weekend, and if they continue that specific trend in a tough conference this season, they’re going to be very difficult to beat most nights. Southern Maine sharpened up as the weekend went on, and if they play how they did in the last 40 minutes of Saturday’s contest, they’ll be formidable moving forward. UMass Boston, in the small sample size I’ve seen have a high ceiling, and Sunday’s rematch against Salve Regina is a great opportunity for them to take their next step as a group. Babson looks like an unreal group based on their first two weekends of the season, and if they continue to play how they have, they’re going to have a chance to win every game they play in this season.  Castleton’s defense is a fortress. Their ability to limit opponents this season so far, especially Hobart, is endemic that their system and execution of it are going to be daunting for every opponent they face this season, and as an lover of defensive hockey, they’re almost must-see college hockey.

Christian