The history books continue to be written in NEWHA as the conference starts its season with a new defending champion in Franklin Pierce and a new member institution in Stonehill. This will be the first season that the winner of the conference tournament will receive an autobid into the NCAA tournament. The preseason coaches poll has the top four teams within 9 points of each other and just five points separating teams 2-4. This should be the most competitive and hard fought year of competition. Franklin Pierce has the nod atop the preseason poll as defending conference champions, followed by LIU, Sacred Heart, Saint Anselm, Stonehill, Post and St. Michael’s.
Franklin Pierce
Last Season
22-9-1, 16-4 (first). Won the NEWHA conference tournament.
Names to Know
Junior goalie Suzette Faucher was the only netminder in the country to have a goals against average below one (.99) and her .961 save percentage also led the nation. She is fully rewriting the career and single-season goaltending records for the Ravens and she’s only halfway through her career.
Senior Ava Kison and junior Emilie Prive are the top returning scorers from last season. Prive was named to the All-NEWHA first team and Kison was on the conference all-tournament team.
What to Watch For
The Ravens won their first ever title with a relatively young team. There’s been a little bit of roster turnover, but the basis of that title run, including nearly all their top scorers and their spectacular goalie are back on the ice for this season. It’s always harder to defend a title, but they responded well to adversity last season and that will serve them well here. After a very rough December where they lost four of the five games they played, Franklin Pierce closed their season on a 14-1 run and set a program record with their 22 wins.
Crystal Ball
I believe they have what it takes to repeat as champions and I have them first.
Long Island University
Last Season
17-5-3, 15-3-2 (second). Lost to Saint Anselm in the NEWHA semifinal.
Names to Know
New coach Kelly Nash brings a wealth of playing and coaching experience. The two-time national champion at Wisconsin, she was most recently an associate head coach and head scout with the Premier Hockey Federation Metropolitan Riveters.
Sophomore Jeannie Wallner was a member of our All-Rookie team last season. She was first on the team – and fourth in NEWHA – with 18 assists. Her 30 points were second-best on the team and good for fifth in the conference.
Senior Megan Bouver was named captain this season. She paced all of NEWHA with 16 goals and was second in the league with 33 points, both of which were a significant jump from the one goal and two assists she put up the previous season.
What to Watch For
Long Island won a share of the regular season title, their first, and became the first team to end the season with a winning record in program history, but were upset in the conference semifinal round. It was a disappointing end to a very good season and something I’m certain the players have been stewing over ever since. Nash brings a new dynamic to the team and it will be interesting to see how the players respond to her and the new staff.
The Sharks open their season with games against two Frozen Four teams. These games will be tough, but should help the team set the bar for what they hope to be able to accomplish at the end of the season. With a tournament berth on the line now, I like seeing LIU put themselves in a position to know what to expect if they’re the ones that win it.
Crystal Ball
The distance between them and Franklin Pierce is miniscule and I think the Sharks will push hard to get back to the top of the table. I have them second.
Post
Last Season
6-26, 3-17 (fifth). Lost to Sacred Heart in the opening round of the NEWHA conference tournament.
Names to Know
Gretchen Silverman takes over the head coaching duties at Post this season. It will be her first coaching role in the college game, after having spent the last nine years at The Taft School. A member of the US team that won the gold medal in 1998, she still holds a number of offensive records at Dartmouth.
Sophomore Julia Wysocki has good vision on the ice and uses her size to win pucks before dishing them off to her teammates for scoring opportunities. She’s an asset on both ends of the ice who probably needs to take a few more shots herself when the opportunities are there.
What to Watch For
The Eagles showed improvement last season and their rookies began to make a big impact as the season wound down. Last year’s 11 freshmen bring that year of experience back to try and push their way up the conference standings. All four of their goalies got a number of starts in net, so it will be interesting to see if any one of them wins a majority starting role. Grace Glasrud had the best numbers, ending the season with a .922 save percentage.
They were last in the country in total offense, averaging just 1.23 goals scored per game. It’s a good thing they’re so good on the penalty kill (they finished fourth in the country with a 93.53% success rate) because they were the most penalized team in the nation, spending more than 10 minutes a game in the sin bin. They also scored just five power play goals. It can be really easy to point to special teams as something teams need to work on, but in this case I think cleaning up their play and being stronger with the skater advantage would be a really good first step toward improvement for Post.
Crystal Ball
I have them sixth.
Sacred Heart
Last Season
16-15-2, 10-8-2 (fourth). Lost to Franklin Pierce in the NEWHA semifinals.
Names to Know
Grad student Kelly Solak is the reigning NEWHA Defensive Player of the Year. She’s great at cutting off angles and protecting her own zone, but also was fourth on the team in points and tied for third with nine goals. She
What to Watch For
The Pioneers had the best penalty kill in the country and were right alongside LIU and Franklin Pierce in the top third of the country for Team Offense. But they’ve had a lot of turnover this season and now look to replace their top two scorers and goalie Frankie Sanchez. They have their work cut out for them as the rest of the conference continues to improve. I expect Sacred Heart to be able to keep pace, but their nine freshmen and two transfers will need to acclimate quickly.
When they come back after the winter break, they’ll be hitting the ice at a brand new, on-campus arena instead of a shared space 10 miles away.
Crystal Ball
This might be a bit of a rebuilding year for Sacred Heart with all their new players. I’ve got them third, but think they can make waves if they gel quickly.
Saint Anselm
Last Season
16-13-3, 11-6-3 (third). Lost to Franklin Pierce in the NEWHA championship game.
Names to Know
Senior goalie Allie Kelley was second team all-NEWHA last season and her .940 save percentage was sixth best in the country.
Sophomore Tyra Turner was NEWHA Rookie of the Year and was a finalist for the AHCA National Rookie of the Year. She was tied for the team lead with 14 goals in an impressive first season.
Grad student Kelly Golini returns to lead the offense. Her 14 goals were tied for second in the conference last season.
What to Watch For
Saint Anselm played it’s first full schedule of National Collegiate level games last season and earned wins over Maine, Dartmouth and Brown in addition to their 11 regular season conference victories. The Hawks have been in four consecutive NEWHA championship games, winning it all in 2019.
Crystal Ball
I have them fourth, but think they have something to prove and could give the top three more difficulty than they are anticipating.
St. Michael’s
Last Season
3-23-1, 1-18-1 (sixth). Lost to Saint Anselm in the opening round of the NEWHA tournament.
Names to Know
Sophomore Angela Ruiz was second on the team with six goals. She also racked up 26 penalty minutes.
Junior Leah White earned the starting role in net last season and looks to be a solid backbone for St. Michaels.
What to Watch For
Thanks to the pandemic, the Purple Knights had 18 players make their college hockey debut last season and they add five more rookies this season. A quick glance at the roster wouldn’t make it clear exactly how young and relatively inexperienced this team is. The key now is to build on what they learned last season. The team takes too many penalties, but is a top half team on the penalty kill – their defense is actually better short-handed. They need to find a way to channel that same shut-down energy during the rest of the game and work on transitioning the puck up ice.
Crystal Ball
I have them seventh, but am excited to see how they’ve grown.
Stonehill
Last Season
This is Stonehill’s first season.
Names to Know
Head coach Tara Watchorn was a 2014 Olympic gold medalist who has spent the past four years as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Boston University. She is also an assistant coach for Hockey Canada’s U-18 women’s team. A standout defender herself, she has focused on that part of the game in her assistant coaching roles.
In addition to a tremendous playing background, assistant coach Lauren Willians has a Masters of Education in Counseling with a concentration in Clinical Mental Health Counselling and has done extensive work with mental health and mental performance coaching. She will be an asset on the ice, but also brings an interesting dynamic of off-ice coaching to the table. It’s unique for a program to put so much emphasis on this part of the game from the get-go and I’d imagine it will be a big benefit to the Skyhawks’ players.
Rookie Lucie Turcotte played three years on France’s U-18 team and attended prep school in the US.
What to Watch For
There are just four women on this roster with previous college experience. Watchorn did not fill the roster with transfers, but instead focused on building from the ground up. Other NEWHA coaches were impressed with the group she brought together and picked Stonehill fifth. It will be a steep learning curve as they all get used to the pace of play, but having that large group do it all together will only serve to strength the team as they move up together each year.
Crystal Ball
I’m sticking with the coaches and picking them fifth.
