Last season saw the Stevenson Mustangs earn the first ever MAC hockey championship and auto-bid to the NCAA tournament. Following the season, the only coach the program had known, Dominick Dawes made the decision to return to his alma mater at Norwich leaving an opportunity for a new bench boss in Maryland. Matt Bruneteau has taken the reins with the Mustangs while Race Bennett is the new head coach for King’s entering the season. Now the question entering the new season is who is ready to take the title in year number two for the MAC.
The Favorite
Wilkes would certainly like to go at least one game further than last season where it lost to Stevenson in the conference championship. Cam Lowe, Patrick Roglinski, Matt Carlson and Daniel Nau lead an experience forward group while Nate Terski and Cam Perez showcase a defense-first mentality on the blueline. Goaltending is where the Colonels will be looking for one of their three talented netminders to take the crease. Junior Duncan Rolleman will compete with first-years Ryan Hacker and Jeffrey Fillion. When the goaltending is established, the Colonels will be tough to beat.
The Dark Horse
Neumann has a very experienced group returning for head coach Michael Heddon and that should help accelerate the learning curve for a strong group of first-year players expecting to find their place in the lineup. Matt Dimaline, Lucas Culhane and Zack Smith are just three of the top six returning scorers for the Knights who will be difficult to contain offensively.
Players to watch:
Alvernia: Joey Arnold – forward; Frazer Dodd – forward
Arcadia: Drew Iannucci – forward; Cody Mastay – forward
King’s: Race Bennett – coach; Luke Harvie – forward
Lebanon Valley: Cade Helmer – forward; Jadon Lee – goaltender
Misericordia: James Eng – forward; Jack Tos – forward
Neumann: Matt Dimaline – forward; Zack Smith- forward
Stevenson: Matt Bruneteau – coach; Ford DeLoss – goaltender
Wilkes: Patrick Roginski – forward; Cam Lowe – forward
USCHO Predicted finish
- Wilkes
- Neumann
- Stevenson
- Alvernia
- Lebanon Valley
- Arcadia
- King’s
- Misericordia
The opening weekend sees a lot of action between MAC and UCHC schools including matchups for Wilkes with Manhattanville and Geneseo; Neumann plays host to Nazareth and Brockport and Stevenson will host the Golden Eagles and Golden Flyers opposite the Neumann slate.