The Little East Conference has announced that Babson and Norwich will join the league as affiliate members in men’s hockey when the LEC begins its inaugural season in 2025-26.
The addition of these two programs brings the LEC’s men’s hockey membership to nine programs.
“On behalf of the Little East Conference presidents and athletic directors, I am excited to welcome Babson College and Norwich University as affiliate members in men’s ice hockey,” said LEC commissioner Pamela Samuelson in a statement. “Their addition further enhances what we believe will be a highly competitive sport at the national level for the LEC and will allow long-standing rivalries to continue for our members currently playing in the New England Hockey Conference.”
Samuelson announced in July 2023 the Little East Conference would begin sponsoring men’s hockey and welcomed New England College as an affiliate member Feb. 13, 2024. The LEC will consist of six core men’s hockey playing members – Keene State, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, Plymouth State, Southern Maine and Vermont State Castleton – and three affiliate member institutions – Babson, New England College and Norwich.
“We are excited to join the LEC for the inaugural season of what promises to be a strong men’s ice hockey league,” said Norwich director of athletics Ed Hockenbury. “At Norwich, we have greatly valued our time as a member in the NEHC, but as the landscape of D-III hockey evolves and there is a geographic reset in our region, we determined that the LEC is the best fit for us moving forward. It features an ideal combination of strong competition, reasonable travel, and maintaining our longest standing relationships and league opponents.”
“With significant league movement across the country that is now impacting Babson and the NEHC, we have decided to move our men’s ice hockey program to the Little East Conference,” said Babson associate VP for athletics and athletics advancement Mike Lynch. “LEC hockey includes many familiar foes from the NEHC in a favorable geographic footprint. The conference retains the same access Babson has experienced when it comes to automatic qualification into the NCAA tournament and provides our student-athletes a continued opportunity to play some of the best teams in the region and nation.”
The LEC will have an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III men’s hockey championship in 2025-26, with at least six core members sponsoring the sport for the inaugural season. The addition of men’s and women’s hockey in 2025-26 will increase the LEC’s championship sponsorship to 23 sports, making the Little East the second-largest Division III conference in New England by championship offerings.
