Men's Ice Hockey Season Starts Friday; Tufts to Join League Play

HARTFORD, Conn. – The 2001-02 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) men’s ice hockey season gets underway on Friday, November 16. Tufts University will be competing in the NESCAC for the first time in men’s ice hockey after playing in the ECAC North/Northeast Division since it became a varsity program in 1986.

Middlebury College has captured the NESCAC title in each of the first two years a conference championship has been held. The Panthers defeated second-seeded Amherst 4-3 in overtime to win the 2001 conference title. In the 2000 championship, Middlebury also won the NESCAC title in overtime, 3-2 over Williams.

Middlebury and Amherst were each ranked in the USCHO.com Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Preseason Poll. The Panthers were ranked fourth with the Jeffs ranked ninth. Bowdoin, Williams, and Colby each received votes in the poll, which ranked the top 10 teams in the nation in Division III.

The top seven NESCAC teams will compete in the conference championship. This year’s championship will have first-round action on Saturday, February 23, 2002 with the semifinals and championship games conducted on Saturday, March 2 and Sunday, March 3, respectively. The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.