After a long-anticipated off-season of excitement, the men’s and women’s ice hockey seasons are officially underway. Months of off-season work will soon start to pay off as both Owls teams’ regular seasons begin in less than a week. Both teams have lots of fire under their belts, both being ranked second to last in the Little East Conference’s (LEC) Preseason Coaches’ Poll in both of their first seasons in the conference.
The women’s team, led by Head Coach Rob Morgan, is looking to stamp themselves as one of the stronger teams in the LEC.
“We have high expectations for our team, we set the bar at a high level, ultimately our goal is to at the end of the year be playing the best hockey when it matters most, which means the playoffs, and obviously we need to make the playoffs, six of seven teams will make it this year and our message is fairly consistent, when we arrive at practice we want to be the best at getting better each day,” said Morgan on the expectations for the team leading up to the start of the season.
Sophomore Captain Molly Price said the team has something to prove this season after being ranked second-to-last in the preseason poll.
“We have a lot to prove this year. We got ranked second to last in the LEC preseason poll, and we have a title to work for this year, and being ranked that low definitely puts a fire under our belt,” said Price.
The women’s team will look to send a message to the league early this season in its first league game against Plymouth State University on Nov. 7.
The men’s ice hockey team is also entering its first year in the LEC under the leadership of Head Coach Bobby Rodrigue.
Rodrigue said the team has high expectations for his young team going into the 2025-2026 campaign.
“We had a nice start to our program last season, so the message now is you know what’s next. We’ve got a really young group and we need to take a step forward together and I think that’s what we’re looking forward to,” said Rodrigue.
The Owls finished their first season in DIII with a promising record of 13-10-1. They’ll look to build off this and try to establish themselves as a true threat in the LEC.
Senior Captain Declan House said that systems will be a big part of their success this season and a key to starting the season off fast.
“We’ve been working on a lot of system stuff, so keeping to our systems, and we’re a fast team so we like to get up and down the ice very quick and play a lot of offense, so I think if we stick to our systems and structure, we’re gonna do great this year,” said House.
Both clubs will look to establish themselves in the LEC early, with both teams being in the conference for the first time. The men’s team opens up their regular season on Halloween night at Saint Anselm cCollege, and the women’s team opens up on the same night at Hilbert College.
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