Regular-season supremacy came down to the final weekend last season, with Trinity sweeping a home-and-home against Wesleyan — winning both games by one goal — to finish in first place.
The Bantams parlayed that playoff home-ice advantage into a NESCAC championship and NCAA tournament berth. Wesleyan saw its season end when it was upset in the league semifinals by Amherst.
Except for the final outcomes, not much separated those two teams last winter. The question as a new season kicks off is whether there will still be separation between Trinity and Wesleyan, and everyone else.
“Every team’s got good players, guys you’ve got to pay attention to across the board,” said Wesleyan coach Chris Potter.
For Trinity (19-4-5), it starts on defense, where it was stellar a year ago, its 1.71 goals allowed per game ranking fourth nationally.
Liam Feeney (Foxboro, Mass.), third-team All-American Michael Grande, Nick Fiorentino, Timothy Weinstein (Norwood, Mass.) and James Callahan all return in front of standout goalie Tedy Loughborough (Wellesley, Mass.). Nationally, Loughborough ranked third in goals-against average (1.57) and fourth in save percentage (.940).
Up front, Lucas Michaud of South Portland, Maine (10-15-25), led the team in points during a freshman season that saw him named Rookie of the Year in the league.
At Wesleyan (16-8-2), the question mark is defense after it graduated a standout group of senior blueliners. It does have one of the best last lines of defense in senior goalie Tim Sestak (Darien, Conn.), who led Division 3 with a .950 save percentage and was named the league’s Player of the Year.
“He’s obviously a guy who can calm things down for you when you’re trying to grow as a ‘D’ core,” said Potter, who felt the biggest drawback to his sophomore-heavy ‘D’ was last year’s seniors blocking their path to the lineup. “Hopefully, it starts where it left off last year.”
Much of the firepower up front returns, a group led by senior Walker Harris, whose 19 goals and 31 points both topped the NESCAC. Tyler Wyatt (7-13-20), Tyler Levine (8-12-20) and Spencer Fox (7-12-19) also are proven scorers.
Amherst (15-7-4), which played its way into the league championship game, graduated an eight-player senior class. Leading scorer Joey Lupo (11-13-24) is back, as are most of the defensemen and both goalies who saw time.
Colby (10-10-5) could be in a good spot if it can generate some more scoring punch (2.56 goals per game). It graduated five seniors, including its top two scorers, but has key players back at every position. Senior Andrew Tucci (2.41 GAA, .919 save percentage) returns in goal, which is good news considering the freshman class includes four defensemen.
Middlebury (8-13-4) was one of the league’s youngest teams and should at least get a bump from the added year of experience. Owen Powers (Cheshire, Conn.) is a player to watch after he posted a 5-6-11 line and plus-5 rating following his transfer from Division 1 Holy Cross.
The losses for Williams (14-9-2) include its two leading scorers and standout goalie Michael Pinios, and answering the net question has been first and foremost on the preseason to-do list. Members of last year’s big freshman class have a chance to step into larger roles.
Defenseman Nick Rutigliano (Upton, Mass.) had an immediate impact for Hamilton (13-10-3) after transferring in from Division 1 Bentley and will be a player to watch after posting a 3-14-17 scoring line. Continentals will need to be better at both ends of the ice to make a jump.
Tufts (6-16-3), Bowdoin (6-16-2) and Connecticut College (7-16-1) are all looking for upward mobility as the new season starts.
Three stars
Liam Feeney (Foxboro, Mass.), sr., D, Trinity Sturdy, 6-foot-2, 210-pound Dexter School product hasn’t missed a game since arriving on campus and will serve as a captain for a second year in a row on a team that’s deep on the blue line.
Joey Lupo, sr., F, Amherst The top scorer last year on a defense-first Amherst team, the St. Louis native has increased his production every season.
Tim Sestak (Darien, Conn.), sr., G, Wesleyan Led all Division 3 in save percentage (.950) during a stellar junior year and will try to man the fort as Cards get some new defensemen into the mix.
