One month into the Division 3 season, and there has been no shortage of surprises.
In the NESCAC, perennial favorite Trinity has yet to win a league game (0-4-0) and has fallen 12 points off the pace, which is currently being set by Bowdoin.
The new Little East is shaping up to be super-competitive, with Plymouth State, Babson and Norwich all announcing themselves as contenders early on.
Which New England teams own a spot in our pre-Christmas Top 10? Let’s take a look.
1. UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND
Record: 8-2 (6-1 CNE) | Preseason ranking: 2 | Next game: Jan. 2 vs. Colby (4 p.m.)
The Nor’easters closed out the semester with a heavyweight series against Curry over the weekend, each team winning on the other’s home ice. That makes it two wins over the Colonels and another over Plymouth State in a little over a month. Juniors Drew Olivieri (Swampscott, Mass.) and Dominic Murphy (Worcester, Mass.) rank among the national leaders in scoring with 17 points apiece.
2. CURRY
Record: 6-3 (4-2 CNE) | Preseason ranking: 1 | Next game: Jan. 2 vs. Skidmore (7 p.m.)
The Colonels are still adjusting to life without goalie Shane Soderwall. Sophomores Cam Smith (2.02 GAA, .918 save percentage) and UConn transfer Thomas Heaney (2.26, .900) have been serviceable, and Gage Dill (6-5-11) is leading an offense averaging better than four goals a game. Not a dominant start from last year's Frozen Four participant, but still a team worth watching.
3. ENDICOTT
Record: 7-1-1 (4-1-1 CNE) | Preseason ranking: 5 | Next game: Jan. 3. vs. Salem State (1 p.m.)
The Gulls are soaring, with four straight wins and five straight without a loss. Freshman Peter Sterling (1.41 GAA, .941 save percentage) has stepped in at goalie and impressed, and another freshman, Taybor Aldrich (Williston, Vt.), scored the first multi-goal game of his career in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over Wesleyan.
4. BOWDOIN
Record: 6-1-1 (4-0-1 NESCAC) | Preseason ranking: NR | Next game: Saturday vs. Salve Regina (3 p.m.)
The Polar Bears stormed out of the game, blasting Middlebury and Williams on opening weekend, and then taking a 3-2 win at rival Colby that gave their fan base a nice warm feeling. Freshman Jayson Alegria had a goal and an assist in Saturday’s 3-2 win at Tufts, one contributor on a team that doesn’t yet have a double-digit scorer.
5. BABSON
Record: 7-1-2 (4-0-1 LEC) | Preseason ranking: 8 | Next game: Jan. 2 at Elmira (3 p.m.)
The Beavers are enjoying life in the Little East, and not just because there’s no longer a big Hobart roadblock on the path to a conference title and the NCAA tournament. Junior Jimmy Fallon of Milton, Mass. (8-6-14) and sophomore Evan Brown (3-10-13) have led the way offensively, and – aside from a 5-1 loss to Tufts – the team has been in every game it’s played.
6. COLBY
Record: 5-2-1 (3-2 NESCAC) | Preseason ranking: 6 | Next game: Jan. 2 at the University of New England (4 p.m.)
The Mules have been in every game to this point and it’s hard to not see that continuing in 2026. They have one of the best goalies in D-3 in sophomore Cooper Rautenstrauch (1.49 GAA, .954 save percentage) and a solid lineup, and only a pair of close 2-1 losses have blemished their record. This is a team that should hang around and challenge for a NESCAC title.
7. NORWICH
Record: 5-3-1 (4-2 LEC) | Preseason ranking: 7 | Next game: Jan. 2 vs. Misericordia/Cortland State (4 p.m.)
The start of the Dominick Dawes era at Norwich has been uneven, but the Cadets are just a game out of first place as the holidays approach. It was always going to take some time with a new coach working in seven new freshmen, and it’s still too early to know where this team’s ceiling can be this season.
8. PLYMOUTH STATE
Record: 6-4 (5-1 LEC) | Preseason ranking: 4 | Next game: Wednesday vs. Anna Maria (6 p.m.)
The Panthers have allowed four or more goals four times already this season, three of those during an 0-3 start. They seem to have steadied themselves since that, though a 6-1 loss to Trinity two days before Thanksgiving was a red flag. Leading scorer Etienne Tremblay-Mathieu (5-11-16) has been an impact freshman on the blueline, but this team still needs to show us it can score goals against better teams.
9. MIDDLEBURY
Record: 4-2-2 (3-2-1 NESCAC) | Preseason ranking: NR | Next game: Jan. 3 vs. Hobart (2 p.m.)
The Panthers are unbeaten since getting swept at Bowdoin and Colby on opening weekend, and defense is a big reason for that. Middlebury has gone six straight games without allowing more than two goals, capped by a 0-0 draw with league power Hamilton on Saturday. Junior goalie Andrew Heinze of North Andover, Mass. (1.74 GAA, .939 save percentage) is building on last year’s breakout season.
10. SALVE REGINA
Record: 10-1 | Preseason ranking: NR | Next game: Friday at Southern Maine (7 p.m.)
Not sure anyone thought independent Salve would be anywhere near this conversation this season, after getting left without a conference affiliation when the NEHC folded, then seeing roughly half their players test the transfer portal and parting ways with coach Zech Klann. The Seawolves are 10-1 playing a cobbled-together – and relatively soft – schedule, with hope that next year’s return to the Conference of New England can give the program some needed stability.
@MikeZhe603
mzhe@hockeyjournal.com
