PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Little East Conference (LEC) Commissioner Pamela S. Samuelson announced that Babson College and Norwich University will join the league as affiliate members in men’s ice hockey when the LEC begins its inaugural season in 2025-26. The addition of these two programs brings the LEC’s men’s ice 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 Samuelson. “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 ice hockey, and welcomed New England College as an affiliate member February 13, 2024. The LEC will consist of six core men’s ice hockey playing members - Keene State College, University of Massachusetts Boston, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Plymouth State University, University of Southern Maine and Vermont State University Castleton - and three affiliate member institutions - Babson College, New England College and Norwich University.
“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 DIII 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’s Pamela P. and Brian M. Barefoot Associate Vice President 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 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 for the inaugural season. The addition of men’s and women’s ice 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.
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.
About Babson College
Babson College prepares and empowers entrepreneurial leaders who create, grow, and steward sustainable economic and social value everywhere. We shape the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge, skills, and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in organizations of all types and sizes. An international leader in entrepreneurship education recognized globally by U.S. News & World Report, our undergraduate, graduate, executive programs, and partnership opportunities are tailored to the needs of our world.
About Norwich University
Norwich University is a diversified academic institution that educates traditional-age students and adults in a Corps of Cadets and as civilians. Norwich offers a broad selection of traditional and distance-learning programs culminating in baccalaureate and graduate degrees. Norwich University was founded in 1819 by Captain Alden Partridge of the U.S. Army and is the oldest private military college in the United States of America. Norwich is one of our nation's six senior military colleges and the birthplace of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC).