Many of the ranked teams in the East, including No. 4 UMass-Boston, No. 5 Salve Regina, No. 12 Hobart, No. 13 Plymouth State, and No. 14 Fredonia all suffered losses, while No. 2 Geneseo and No. 8 Oswego posted solid wins.
An East versus West battle between No. 5 Salve Regina and No. 7 Adrian, and renewal of the rivalry between No. 4 UMass-Boston and Massachusetts-Dartmouth are among the highlights this weekend. Tim Costello picks the games.
First-year program Wilkes rebounded from a slow start and is now looking to move to the top of the conference in the UCHC.
Chris Schultz of Geneseo earned his 200th career win, No. 10 Trinity suffered its first loss of the season, and No. 13 Norwich held on for a win in a tight conference game.
Geneseo and Hobart both started with big wins, while Endicott and Norwich battled to a draw.
In a conference where only six teams advance to the postseason tournament, every game will be a battle, but Utica will likely end up on top in the UCHC and gain the new autobid for the league.