Seahawks picked fourth by CCC coaches
BIDDEFORD, Maine – The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) is set to begin its first season of women's ice hockey in 2021-22 after taking over operations of the Colonial Hockey Conference (CHC). Endicott was selected as the preseason favorite for the first year under the CCC umbrella, earning 48 points and six first place votes in a poll conducted by the league's seven head coaches.
Endicott enters the year as the two-time defending league champions after winning both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 CHC Tournament Championships before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled conference play last season.
The final CHC Tournament runner-up, the University of New England, will begin its first season under the new branding in the No. 2 spot. The Nor'easters earned 38 points and the last remaining first place vote in the poll.
Suffolk, a new addition to the league, landed in the No. 3 spot in the poll with 34 points, while Salve Regina ranked fourth with 22.
Head coach David Lun enters his second season and is excited for a full season of competition with Salve Regina. Senior goalie Madison Jalbert (Beverly, Mass.) and junior goalie Sophie Beauchesne (Nottingham, N.H.) will solidify a powerful tandem in net while graduate students Carley Bauckham (Westchester, N.Y.) and Paige Stapleton (Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J.) will give some added experience and leadership while they pursue their master's degrees. Seniors Brynn Mendes (Centerville, Mass.), Cassidy Lariviere (Marstons Mills, Mass.), Colby Lopez-Balboa (Norwalk, Conn.), Dakota McMahon (Newington, Conn.), and Kimberly Dunn (Quincy, Mass.) add to the depth of this upperclassman lineup and newcomers Allyson Fleszar, Caroline Cadelina, Emma Breen, and Emma Periera will be looking to make a splash with breakout seasons in a Seahawks uniform.
Nichols, the last of the remaining teams to have competed in the CHC, rounded out the top five with 20 points.
The 2021-22 season also marks the first full varsity season for two new programs, Western New England and Curry. They ranked sixth and seventh in the poll with 18 and 16 points, respectively.
The CCC women's ice hockey season begins on Saturday, Oct. 29 as teams kick off their non-conference schedules. Conference play begins the next weekend (Friday-Saturday, Nov. 5-6) with a pair of CCC matchups. The top five teams in the conference standings at the end of the regular season earn spots in the 2022 CCC Championship Tournament. The tournament is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, Feb. 23 with a quarterfinal matchup between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds. The tournament will continue on Saturday, Feb. 26 with the semifinal round and conclude with the CCC Championship a week later on Saturday, March 5. The winner of the CCC Championship game will be named the CCC Tournament Champion and earn the league's automatic qualifier into 2022 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Championship.