The University of New England isn’t sneaking up on anybody this time around.
It was a historic season for the Nor’easters last year. They won their first Commonwealth Coast Conference championship and then took their season a step further by knocking off Trinity in the first round of the Division 3 tournament.
Coach Kevin Swallow (West Peru, Maine) brings back 23 of 28 players, including talents at every position, so there’s a known factor. The other thing they know is that in a conference that seems to get deeper each year, the battle for the top four should be fierce.
“I think the conference is only getting stronger,” said Salve Regina coach Zech Klann. “The players that these schools are starting to bring in aren’t just from the East Coast anymore.”
UNE (21-7-2) can make a strong case as the team to beat. Ryan Bloom heads into his senior year with 61 goals and 133 points already to his name and becomes the focal point of an attack that was one of the nation’s best (4.57 goals per game) but lost Player of the Year Brady Fleurent (Biddeford, Maine).
Dimitris Jones is the leader on the blue line, coming off a season that saw him produce 27 points. And Ben Churchfield (2.09 GAA, .926 save percentage) is back in net, so UNE has some quality pieces in place for a title defense.
The top challenger? Salve Regina. One year after making a run to the national championship game, the Seahawks (18-7-2) nearly returned to the NCAAs, losing to UNE in the conference final.
“The thing I like is with our core guys, we have a handful of guys who have been to a national championship (and) played in a conference championship,” said Klann. “We lost them both, but they know what it takes to get there.”
On a team with just two seniors, Danny Eruzione of Winthrop, Mass. (13-25-38) is a leader up front. The blue line boasts Matthew Dillon (Grafton, Mass.), the Rookie of the Year in the league, and standout Vincenzo Renda. The early question mark is in goal, where Blake Wojtala’s departure leaves a gaping hole.
“We still have a very young team,” said Klann, “but I think it could be a sound team.”
Curry (16-7-3) took a step forward last winter and will look to keep trending in the right direction with 23 players back. TJ Manastersky, last season’s Coach of the Year, has Billy Vizzo of Shelton, Conn., (12-14-26) back to lead an attack that graduated its top two scorers, and good experience back on defense and in goal, where the three players who saw action last winter — Justin Ketola, Cody Murch and Vladimir Cibulka — all return.
No team is younger than Endicott (16-9-2), which has brought aboard 16 freshmen to go with 14 returnees. The Gulls graduated an offensively prolific class, and the top returning forwards are Jason Kalinowski of Stamford, Conn., (8-10-18) and James Winkler of York, Maine (11-9-20). There also are things to sort out on defense and in goal.
The graduation losses for Nichols (11-2-3) included a pair of standout defensemen among its seven-player class, so there’s work to be done. Vincent Crivello will wear the captain’s ‘C’ after leading the team in goals (10), assists (18) and points (28) last season.
The league dropped off after its top five last season and Wentworth (8-14-4), Western New England (8-17) and Becker (3-21-1) are still fighting to escape the bottom tier. Becker has a new coach in Mike Young, who spent the previous nine years as an assistant at Westfield State.
Three stars
Ryan Bloom, sr., F, University of New England Brady Fleurent’s wingman these last three years will command more of the spotlight after tallying 22 goals — fifth-most in Division 3 — as a junior.
Danny Eruzione (Winthrop, Mass.), jr., F, Salve Regina Eruzione’s 25 assists tied for 14th in the nation, and he’ll be leaned on by a team that heads into battle with just two seniors.
Billy Vizzo (Shelton, Conn.), sr., F, Curry Former Endicott player’s 26 points last season came in just 14 games, and he was among the league leaders in plus/minus.
