Posted: Oct 17, 2018

Seahawks picked to finish first after last season's NCAA Tournament run

Blake Wojtala and the Seahawks open their season on Friday, November 2, at home versus the University of New England.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Salve Regina, coming off the first-ever appearance by a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) program in an NCAA title game, will start the year as the CCC Men's Ice Hockey preseason favorite. The Seahawks received 59 points in the preseason coaches' poll.

Included among the 59 poll points were four of the eight first place votes cast by the leagues' eight men's ice hockey head coaches.

After starting his first season as a head coach by knocking off the defending national champion (Norwich) on its home ice, Salve Regina's Zech Klann brought the Seahawks to their first-ever home ice NCAA competition and advanced to the national championship game in Lake Placid. The Seahawks return ACHA All-American goaltender Blake Wojtala (Trenton, Mich.), their all-time leader in wins (46) and shutouts (eight). Wojtala has veteran defensemen in classmates Kevin Clare (Chicago, Ill.) and Nick Cyr (Mount Laurel, N.J.) along with a talented second-year crew including forwards Paul Boutoussov (Dana Point, Calif.), Danny Eruzione (Winthrop, Mass.), and Erik Udahl (East Walpole, Mass.), the latter earning NCAA All-Tournament Team honors at the Frozen Four.

The Seahawks finished first in the CCC regular season (14-2-2 CCC; 26-6-2 overall) with the fewest goals allowed (33; goals against average 1.81). Klann is excited with his cast of newcomers including Matt Dillon, Sage Englund, Brent Hill, Matt Kidney, J.J. Layton, Derek Neal, George Sennott, and Louis-Felix St-Jean. "Five of these guys won a league championship together (Islanders Hockey Club) while setting a record for most wins," says Klann, "And they're ready to contribute at the next level."

Landing second in this year's poll was Endicott, which gathered 54 points and three of the remaining first place votes.

The University of New England and Nichols were ranked in the third and fourth spots, respectively. Both teams also participated in the 2018 NCAA Championship with UNE earning an at-large bid and Nichols earning a spot as the 2018 CCC Tournament Champion. UNE, which earned 51 points and the final first place vote in the poll, matched up with Colby in the NCAA First Round and took a 4-2 defeat. The Bison defeated the Nor'easters in the CCC Championship game last year, 8-3, and went on to earn a 3-1 win over Fitchburg State in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. They earned 43 poll points.

Curry (31 points), Wentworth (22), Western New England (15), and Becker (13) made up the bottom half of the ledger in that order.

The puck drops in the first men's ice hockey action on Friday, Oct. 26 with four CCC teams in non-conference play. The 17-game conference schedule starts the following week on Friday, Nov. 2. With eight teams competing, the top six teams in the conference standings at the end of the regular season will qualify for the 2018 CCC Men's Ice Hockey Championship Tournament. The tournament will begin with the quarterfinal round on Wednesday, Feb. 20. The winners of those games will advance to compete in the semifinals on Saturday, Feb. 23. The CCC Championship will take place on Saturday, March 2 with the CCC Tournament Champion title on the line. The CCC Tournament Champion will earn the league's automatic qualification into the 2019 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Click HERE to view the whole 2018-19 CCC men's ice hockey schedule.