LEC Announces New England College as Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey Affiliate, Women’s Ice Hockey as Conference’s 23rd Championship Sport

PROVIDENCE, R.I .— Little East Conference (LEC) Commissioner Pamela S. Samuelson announced that New England College will join the league as an affiliate member in men’s and women’s ice hockey beginning with the 2025–26 season. The addition of the Pilgrims will allow the LEC to begin sponsoring women’s ice hockey as a championship sport beginning with the 2025–26 academic year.

“On behalf of the LEC presidents and athletic directors, it gives me great pleasure to welcome New England College as an affiliate member in men’s and women’s ice hockey, and I am excited that we will be able to begin sponsoring both sports beginning in 2025–26 with their addition,” said Samuelson. “NEC’s programs further enhance what we believe will be highly competitive sports for our conference.”

NEC Director of Athletics Dave DeCew stated, “New England College and its men’s and women’s ice hockey programs take great pride in our rich history of competing at the highest levels. This conference affiliation allows us to continue to compete against traditional New England area league foes and build on intra-state rivalries. Hockey here in Henniker will continue to be played at a high level against tournament-level teams, all while under the stability of the LEC.”

Samuelson announced in July 2023 the Little East Conference would begin sponsoring men’s ice hockey, following the addition of varsity men’s and women’s ice hockey programs at Keene State College. The Owls and Pilgrims will join men’s and women’s ice hockey programs from LEC primary members UMass Boston, Plymouth State University, University of Southern Maine and Vermont State University Castleton, and the men’s program from UMass Dartmouth.

Per NCAA Division III rules, LEC women’s ice hockey will obtain automatic qualification status beginning in 2027–28, as it will begin with fewer than six sponsoring core members. The LEC will have immediate automatic qualification access to the NCAA Division III men’s ice hockey championship in 2025–26 with at least six core members sponsoring the sport.

The addition of men’s and women’s ice hockey will mark the second expansion of sport offerings by the LEC in recent years, following the addition of men’s golf and men’s swimming & diving for the 2021–22 academic year.

About the Little East Conference
The Little East Conference (LEC) was formed in 1986 when six public institutions gathered to create a single sport athletic conference and has expanded into what is now New England’s premier athletic conference for public institutions in NCAA Division III. The LEC will soon feature 23 championship sports, sponsoring quality competition for our student-athletes while following the Division III mission of “passion, responsibility, sportsmanship and citizenship.”

The Little East consists of nine primary institutions that encompass all six New England states – Eastern Connecticut State University, Keene State College (N.H.), UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, Plymouth State University (N.H.), Rhode Island College, University of Southern Maine, Vermont State University Castleton, and Western Connecticut State University.

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