The last half of women’s D-III hockey out east is upon us and after what occurred in the first half, it’ll take a lot for us to be shocked and/or surprised if any more huge upsets occur the rest of the way, or if another team makes a run. Here’s my second-half conference winner predictions and wishlist.
NESCAC
Amherst. The best conference in women’s hockey in terms of overall depth and strength from top to bottom, the NESCAC currently has four ranked teams (#5 Amherst, #6 Colby, #8 Middlebury, #13 Hamilton) and also three other teams receiving votes in the USCHO poll. The league has an overall cumulative record of 58-22-1 and seemingly has had a wide-variety of conference champions, since 2013, five different teams have won the league tournament.
Considering what Amherst has done, I have to give them the edge, they split with Hamilton early, and swept Middlebury, shocking us all. Knowing anyone can win this conference, it’s a hard choice, but Amherst has passed all the tests so far with their only blemish being to Hamilton who’s currently rolling as of late. Give me Amherst to receive the auto-bid, but we could easily see half of the at-large bids, plus the auto-bid, taken from this one conference, it’s that good.
My “wish” isn’t a wish because I know for a fact it’ll occur. The conference tournament is so unpredictable in the NESCAC that there’s nothing else you can really wish for in terms of a fan perspective. No wishes are needed here.
NEHC
Norwich. If you asked me my pick at the start of the year I would’ve said Elmira, but it’s tough to pick them based on how the past few weeks have gone vs top competition. Being a young team, it’s understandable for Elmira not to be competing at the top like normal, but for Norwich, they seem to be wanting to make up for last year after an early NEHC tournament exit. Give me Norwich to win the conference and receive the auto-bid to the NCAA tournament.
My Wish: Elmira gets back on track and makes a run. Head Coach Jake Bobrowski obviously has a young team and in his first year as head coach, he isn’t exactly being eased into the job with his team having one of the hardest schedules so far in D-III women’s hockey. I want to see Elmira show signs of promise and possibly face Norwich in the conference finals for that auto-bid into the NCAA tournament.
NEWHL
Plattsburgh. Although Oswego is showing promise and improvement and Canton is off to the best start in program history at 10-1-1, the Cardinals have been the most battle tested and passed nearly all. The rest of the conference (outside of Canton who hasn’t faced top-tier competition yet) has seen their struggles against ranked-opponents such as Oswego and Cortland who are the usual runner-ups in the NEWHL. I’m looking forward to seeing Plattsburgh vs Canton (three times) as it’ll show us a lot about who Canton really is. So far though, I don’t see anyone challenging the Cardinals in the end.
My Wish: Canton shocks the world and continues their hot streak. Currently off to the best start in program history (10-1-1), led by first-year Head Coach Kalie Grant, the Roos are rolling and I would absolutely love to see them give Plattsburgh and/or others a run at the conference title. Even though it’s a longshot and most would deem unlikely, those of us with faith in the Roos can only “wish”.
UCHC
Utica. After Nazareth’s historic year last year going 27-2 (including NCAA tournament, both losses coming to Elmira), the Golden Flyers have seen their struggles, losing to teams we wouldn’t normally expect, but still very good and can beat anyone. While Utica is currently playing great hockey, Utica has also gotten a new facility upgrade on the women’s side, new locker rooms, lounges, the new “Nexus Center” where they’ll split time with the “Aud” and play their majority of home games at. I think all of this combined with the fact that they’ve got a veteran led team with a great goaltender in Angela Hawthorne, the Pioneers win the UCHC.
My Wish: I want to see the conference improve as a whole, currently there’s a massive gap between the top teams and the bottom teams and I’d like to see some of the teams near the bottom of the standings give some of the top teams a run, make it interesting for a change. Utica winning the UCHC would be a change that I welcome and as mentioned before, I believe it becomes a reality.
CCC
Suffolk. If you told someone a few years ago Suffolk would be as good as they are right now and even last year, they would think you’re lying. Suffolk has made a huge turnaround in the past few years and seeing it unfold is impressive. Endicott has seen their struggles this year and doesn’t seem to have what it takes to win the conference tournament, whilst Suffolk is continuing where they left off last year (program-best 19-6) and looking to receive an automatic NCAA tournament bid for the first time in program history. Head Coach Taylor Wasylk has done an amazing job with the program during her tenure.
My Wish: Suffolk wins their first ever conference championship. This is a team that in their first three years as a program (including covid year where 8 total games were played) had a combined record of 27-30-5 (first two years were in the NEHC, CCC since 2020-2021). Last season and this season combined, their record is 28-9-1. Coach Wasylk has the Rams cooking something up as of late and I want to see them win their first conference title.
