Following nine seasons in the NEHC, like other schools I’ve covered, the New England College (NEC) Pilgrims joined the Little East Conference (LEC) for its flagship season in ice hockey. 2024-2025 saw NEC advance to the conference semi-final for the first time in the twenties, following an upset win over Babson before enduring a season-ending loss to Hobart. Perhaps the biggest boon for the NEHC programs leaving for new conferences was creating a road to the national tournament that doesn’t flow through the three-time defending national champions (As of March 2026). The Pilgrims returned 65.9% of this roster for the 2025-2026 campaign (per DIII-Hockey News), but only 55.0% of their shot blocking (We’ll come back to this later). As a spoiler, the Pilgrims’ season did not live up to the program’s hopes for the year, but this group significantly affected the LEC playoffs despite not qualifying for them. Let’s roll back the calendar to November 1st. 

NEC started its season at Conway Arena in Nashua, NH against cross state rivals Rivier. The Pilgrims didn’t wait long to start scoring this season, as Gunnar Sibley marked the scoreboard in the fifth minute of the first period. Their lead would be erased in the first minute of the second by Aaron Sawicki, but in an effort that featured five multi-point scorers for NEC, the lead was extended to 6-2 for their first win of the season.

They weren’t able to bask in the glory of this victory for long, as the Pilgrims immediately jumped into LEC play the following Friday. Another road trip, this time to Castleton, a familiar, former NEHC foe. NEC repeated its act of striking first in the game’s opening frame, this time from Jack Ohlund but Castleton forged an equalizer in the back half of the period. The second period found both teams trading blows as Graham Hassan and Jack Herron gave NEC two separate leads, but neither lasted more than five minutes before the Spartans drew the game back to even. In the seventh minute of the third period, Castleton’s Emmett McHardy gave his team their first lead of the game, and it was one they wouldn’t surrender on their way to a 5-3 victory. The Pilgrims returned to Vermont to face Norwich the following afternoon. Anthony Beaulieu was sharp to open this contest, keeping the Cadets off the scoreboard in the first period. However, after the Cadets went to the man advantage twice at the start of the second, they leveraged the moment to sustain pressure in the NEC zone until Cole Fagan and Cory Kashul broke through. Despite NEC’s best efforts, the score of 2-0 held until the final buzzer.

In the Pilgrims return to Henniker for their home opener, the team got caught flat footed against UMass Boston. The Beacons struck less than three minutes into the game, and despite an attempted pushback in the frame, they extended their lead in the dying minutes of the period. After a quiet second period, the Beacons got back to their scoring ways in the third, extending their lead to 3, and then eventually 4-0 in the closing minutes of the game. Despite their efforts, the Pilgrims offense couldn’t generate much, finishing the game with 24 shots on goal, going 0 of 4 on the power play. In another Saturday afternoon game, the Pilgrims hosted the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth. Once again, NEC found themselves chasing a game early after Tyler Stewart put the Corsairs out front in the sixth minute of the game. Graham Hassan answered before the end of the period, bringing an end to NEC’s two game scoreless streak. Despite outshooting the Corsairs 40 to 21, Danny Miscavish surrendered the deciding goal to Chris Cardillo in the second period, pushing the Pilgrims to 0-3-0 in LEC play.

For the first time in program history, the Pilgrims welcomed Western Connecticut to a game. For the fourth time in as many games, LEC surrendered the first goal, and for the second straight game, in the sixth minute of the first period. Sibley struck back with the equalizer just past the midpoint of the period on the power play. Before the midpoint in the second, Herron gave the Pilgrims their first lead since Castleton, and Beaulieu would not surrender another, guiding NEC to their first intraconference win of the season. NEC pivoted to another in-state opponent the following afternoon as Keene State came to town. Kyle Gonzalez upheld NEC’s 2025-2026 promise of spotting their opponent the first goal before NEC’s offense got going in the second. Casey Sturm, Dylan Duckson, and Hassan struck in the back half of the middle frame to give LEC a 3-1 lead. Keene State pulled it within one halfway through the third, but an immediate response from Egor Osipik restored their two goal lead. The Pilgrims closed the game out for a 5-3 win.

A return to interconference play to end the calendar year was unkind to NEC. Their offense was largely ineffective against Trinity in a game where Beaulieu stopped 39 en route to a 5-0 loss. However, their next game against Fitchburg State was not nearly as dismal. Osipik struck fifty-three seconds into the game, giving NEC the first lead of the game for the first time in over a month. Devin Niles responded by the end of the frame to send the game into intermission with a 1-1 tie. Ohlund restored the NEC lead, but Niles and Jacob Trowt put the Falcons ahead entering the third period. With less than five minutes remaining in the third period, Osipik struck again to draw the game to even, which forced overtime. Unfortunately, Nick Millhorn put one past Vladimir Maksimov to secure a win for Fitchburg State. The Pilgrims would then travel to Auburn, MA to face another MASCAC opponent in Anna Maria College. Much like their game against Trinity, the Pilgrims didn’t have any answers in the first two periods as the Amcats built a 5-0 lead. NEC peppered Matt Hennessey to the tune of thirty-seven shots on goal, but Serafin Hoerl and Gus Cantwell’s goals came too late to have much impact on the outcome.

The return to hockey in 2026 was just as raw for the Pilgrims. William Billequay and Manhattanville came to Henniker on January 3rd, and proceeded to have a game. Despite the Pilgrims’ thirty-eight shots on Billequay, they couldn’t solve him, and fell 5-0 after being nipped by a myriad of players throughout the Manhattanville roster. Middlebury arrived the next afternoon, and had their way with Miscavish in the same manner Manhattanville did with Beaulieu. Outshot 32-16, the Pilgrims were once again defeated 4-0, securing their second two game scoreless streak of the season.

As NEC returned to LEC play against Southern Maine, they kept up their habit of surrendering goals in the sixth minute (honestly, the consistency to do it three times in the same season is worthy of acknowledgement due to the statistical improbability). Determined to not get blanked again, Dylan Duckson answered quickly with Jaeseok Lee giving the Pilgrims a first period lead. Ben Aucoin and Owen Arend had other plans for the Huskies; however, as they scored twice in the opening two minutes of the second to put their team ahead. Cole Brennan added an insurance marker in the third. Osipik tried to mount a comeback with a goal in the fourteenth minute of the third, but Pilgrims couldn’t find the equalizer. Riding a brutal six game losing streak dating back to December 5th, NEC had the fun task of traveling down to Wellesley, MA to play the 7th (nationally) ranked Babson Beavers. The Pilgrims reminded people that these games aren’t played on paper. After an incredibly sturdy first period from Beaulieu, Matteo Viglino struck first for NEC in the eighteenth minute of the second period. Duckson added an insurance goal just over a minute later. However, a Martin Leps trip put the Beavers on the power play, and Will Holland drew them back within one. Beaulieu would stop all twelve shots he faced in the third to secure a monumental upset for the Pilgrims 2-1.

The high of this win brought the Pilgrims into an interconference rematch with Fitchburg State. Aleksei Filmonov gave the Falcons an early lead in the fifth minute, but Lampen Wincent-Vesse struck back before the first buzzer. Unfortunately, Hunter Dunn restored the Fitchburg lead less than five minutes after. Viglino scored the only goal of the second period, ensuring that these teams would once again be even. In the fourth minute of the third, Anthony DeLuca put the Falcons back out in front, and following an insurance goal from Kristopher Zapata late, they delivered the Pilgrims another loss. NEC would return home to face a former-MASCAC team in the visiting Plymouth State Panthers. Payton Schaly struck early for the Panthers (Yeah, we’re going to highlight this at the end of the article), but that would be the only time the high-flying PSU offense would deliver. Sibley, Duckson, and Hoerl all struck in the second period to give NEC a 3-1 lead at the intermission, and third period goals from Patrick Lindbohm and Hassan put the game out of reach at 5-1. Despite giving Plymouth 7 power plays, Beaulieu stopped 31 of 32 in the win.

Having won two of their last three, and having won back-to-back games against two of the top three teams in the LEC, it only made sense that Norwich would arrive in Henniker for their rematch at this point (Does the LEC have script writers making their schedules?). In a tale as old as time (or whatever Angela Lansbury sang) the Cadets struck first, in the fourth minute of the opening period, and again just past the midway point in the frame to get out to an early 2-0 lead. Wyatt Gibson bit back for the Pilgrims to cut the lead in half, but Ben Van Waterschoot and Ocean Fancy broke the game open with two goals within a 100 seconds of Gibson’s to extend the lead to 4-1. Duckson slid a goal past the Cadets in the closing second of an eventful period to cut the lead to two. Norwich extended the lead to four in the first half of the second. Goals from Osipik and Hassan closed the gap to 6-4, but it wasn’t enough to bring the game back to even. Castleton made their way out to Henniker for their rematch the following afternoon. In the second minute of the first the Spartans took an early lead, and extended it to 3-0 before the end of the frame. The Pilgrims put 43 shots on Joseph Ward, but they were unable to solve him, keeping the score intact.

After a week to reset, the Pilgrims journeyed out to Keene State for a rematch with the Owls. Duckson, Ohlund, and Sibley propelled NEC out to an early 3-0 lead, but the Owls’ Declan House trimmed the lead to two with thirty-nine seconds left in the frame. Sibley answered just twelve seconds later to preserve the three goal lead after one. Jack Brennan added another Pilgrims goal early in the second before an answer from Collin Patterson less than two minutes later. Seragin restored NEC’s four goal lead within ninety-seconds. Luke Festa scored in the nineteenth minute to send the game to its second intermission at 6-3. Just past the halfway mark in the third period, Keene labored for three goals, somehow sending this game to overtime at 6-6. Osipik scored his first goal (and fourth point) of the game with twenty-one seconds remaining in the OT period to deliver the Pilgrims the win. Following the absolute mayhem that was Friday night, the Pilgrims traveled down to Western Connecticut for the first time. Jack Brennan hit the reverse uno card and scored in the sixth minute of the first period to give the Pilgrims an early lead. Drew Coady found the equalizer eleven seconds into the second, but Sibley answered right back. Scott McNulty brought the game back to even for West Conn, but Tyler Gobel added another goal four minutes later to give West Conn a one goal lead heading into the third. Despite throwing 39 total shots on goal, the Pilgrims couldn’t find a third goal, ending the game in a 3-2 defeat.

NEC took the long (and usually unpleasant on a Friday) ride down to New Bedford, MA for their rematch with UMass Dartmouth. A quiet first period was followed by two goals by Osipik in the back half of the second period to give NEC a 2-0 lead. Kailin Chen and Alex Walker struck in the opening five minutes of the third period to draw the game back to even. Wyatt Gibson pulled a trick out of Osipik’s book by adding two quick strikes of his own in the tenth and twelfth minute to restore NEC’s two-goal lead. Osipik completed his hat trick in the closing minute to secure a 5-2 win for NEC. The next afternoon saw the Pilgrims visit UMass Boston for their rematch with the Beacons. Jazz Krvivtsov struck for the Beacons in the eighth minute for the only goal of the first period. Zander Lizotte and Jack Mortson extended the UMass Boston lead to three before the midway point in the second period. Casey Sturm answered back before the end of the period, but it was the only goal that NEC would score before the final buzzer concluded a 3-1 defeat.

Valentine’s Day brought the Pilgrims to Hanaway Rink for their rematch with Plymouth State. After a scoreless first, Osipik gave the Pilgrims a second period lead. Tucker Shedd, WIll Redick, and Will Pray would answer back in rapid succession, creating a two-goal deficit for NEC at the second intermission. Duckson brought the Pilgrims within one before the midway point in the period, but they couldn’t find another before Redick put the game out of reach late.

With NEC mathematically eliminated from the LEC playoffs, their only role left was to play the spoiler for a pair of playoff teams, and they delivered. 11th ranked Babson made their way up to Henniker hoping to keep their chances of an LEC regular season championship alive in a tight race with Norwich. Emil Elias had other ideas when he struck first to give NEC an early lead. Egan Schmitt brought the game back to even before the end of the first, and Nolan Woudenberg gave Babson a lead five minutes into the second period. Elias would score his second of the game to bring the game back to even. Martin Leps would nip one past Nate Mueller in the twelfth minute, once again giving NEC a third period lead against Babson. Beaulieu locked in for a second time with a late lead over the Beavers, stopping 33 of 35 to secure the win, and a regular season conference title for Norwich. In the season finale, Southern Maine ventured to Henniker for their rematch with the Pilgrims, with ambitions of securing the 3rd seed in the LEC. Sibley scored before the end of the first to give NEC a lead, but Danny Caputo answered quickly for the Huskies. Gavin Simopolous scored twenty seconds into the second period to give USM a lead, but two quick goals from Sibley restored NEC to a one-goal lead. In the dying minute of the third Osipik added an insurance goal to secure one final win for NEC, keeping USM in 4th in the LEC standings.

On the surface this NEC team did some things better than their 2024-2025 counterparts, but there were some statistical regressions as well. Compared to 2024-2025, NEC went from having one Star-level producer to 1 Superstar and 2 Stars in 2025-2026. Osipik was tremendous all season, while Sibley and Brennan were key contributors to their scoring output over the course of the season. The downside this season was that the team had 6 Replacement level producers. When 27% percent of your skaters are in the 20th percentile offensively over an entire season, it puts more strain on your top scorers, your defense, and your goaltending to win games. Luckily, all three of NEC’s stars should be back for the 2026-2027 campaign. Coupled with development from the rest of the group, plus a couple of decent freshman commitments, this group should be better next season.

Goaltending is certainly more difficult to assess for this group. After being in the 95th percentile in 2024-2025, Beaulieu slid to the 25th percentile with a GSAA of -6.72. On the surface, all three NEC goalies had similar save percentages in 2025-2026, so the entire trio would theoretically have similar GSAA if they all saw the same volume of shots. The tough thing about evaluating Beaulieu is that despite poor stats in the model, going back through their season, he was a key fixture in several wins (Babson), and was easily the best player in several losses (@ Norwich and Trinity). Reflecting back on my earlier look at shot blocking, this year’s NEC squad blocked 13.1 shots per game compared to 14.5 a year ago, an almost 10% decrease.  Additionally, this team conceded 3.44 power play opportunities per game this season at a PK rate of 75.5% against a 3.11 and 78.5% a year ago, increasing the rate of high-danger scoring chances against. Compound this with the recurring gags about surrendering goals in the first six minutes of both games and periods, and we find a team that was chasing most games, needing to sacrifice defense to create scoring chances. For 2026-2027, if the next group of Pilgrims can limit or eliminate the early strikes, the goaltending statistics should rebound, and this team should compete for an LEC playoff spot.