Keene State College has rolled out new men’s and women’s ice hockey programs with the winter season on the horizon.
Before the 2024-2025 season, both men’s and women’s ice hockey teams at Keene State were club teams that competed in the ACHA. Last season the women’s club team was inactive and the men’s team competed in the ACHA playoffs. In the fall of 2023, the college confirmed that both men’s and women’s ice hockey would be added to the NCAA Athletics list and would compete at the division three level in the Little East Conference.
The new teams won’t have to change much from their club teams and will use the same rink at Keene Ice throughout the season. There are several steps when adding a new team to the varsity program at a college, but Athletic Director Marty Testo said he understands all that goes into adding new teams to the varsity program such as men’s and women’s ice hockey.
“It’s important that we offer intercollegiate sports that make sense at our institution. I want to offer experiences for our students that they are interested in, but also that can help bolster our league (LEC),” Testo said. “If there is an opportunity to expand and give student-athletes more opportunities on our campus then that’s something we’re going to look at and take seriously.”
Making that switch from club to collegiate for any sport means changes in how the team operates, and also changes in who their opponents are. The Women’s Ice Hockey Coach Rob Morgan, who has coached in both the NCAA and ACHA, said he knows of the financial and competitive differences in both settings.
“The biggest difference is the amount of support that is provided for game operations, recruiting and other financial support. With club hockey, it’s the athletes and fundraising that pay for that, but in varsity the majority of that budget comes from the college,” Morgan said.
With the new addition for both men’s and women’s ice hockey comes a change to the conference they will be playing in as well. For most sports the teams within the conference stay the same, with a team or two not included in certain sports. The Little East Conference for hockey will add in teams such as Babson and Norwich to expand the conference. Men’s Hockey Coach Bobby Rodrigue is aware of Keene State’s opportunity in the new conference and plans to compete with the new teams.
“As one of the youngest teams, every team is going to be a big team for us to face. We are starting behind everyone so we are going to work hard to catch up quickly. Babson College and Norwich University consistently find themselves ranked in the top 15 in the country, as does Plymouth,” Rodrigue said. “When you get three teams regularly in the top 15 that makes it kind of a power conference, and I think you will see teams get strong quickly because good players want to play in good conferences.”
According to previous reporting by The Equinox, the step up to division three hockey has attracted athletes to come and play for the Keene State Owls. Transfers for both the men’s and women’s teams have increased the roster size as well as experience in the NCAA level. Senior defenseman Haylee Owen transferred in from Johnson & Wales University and said she has already developed a liking toward the community and its support for athletics.
“The community is super involved with athletics it seems, even going to the men’s games the crowds have been crazy, and the support behind our team has been insane. Our team is super excited to be the first team at this university and it’s a big name to have. Everybody on campus is talking about it and how excited they are to be a part of it too,” Owen said.
Along with new transfers that have joined both the men’s and women’s hockey teams, there are players from the previous club teams that have envisioned the division three team for quite some time. For the men’s team, fifth-year goalie William Slohm said he has patiently waited for the jump to the NCAA and feels that both the team and community should be excited about the new additions.
“The boys definitely are fired up about the jump. It’s hard for the freshmen to understand how big of a deal it is, but I think we had 7-8 make the jump and it is a whole new world. We have a really good recruiting class and once everyone adjusts to the pace of college hockey we could be a sneaky competitor,” Slohm said.
Both teams have played two games so far with both of the men’s games coming down to close finishes in post regulation. The new teams are underway in their inaugural season and will compete in a refined Little East Conference. Tickets for home games will go on sale Mondays with 200 free tickets for students.
Jacob Enscoe can be contacted at
jenscoe@kscequinox.com
