Nichols College Athletics

DUDLEY, Mass. (2/27/2026) - The No. 5 seeded Nichols College men's ice hockey team (11-14-1, 7-12-1 CNE) captured a 4-1 victory over the Curry College Colonels on Wednesday in the first round of the Conference of New England (CNE) playoffs at the Canton Ice House. Following the decisive road victory, the Bison have stamped their ticket to the Semifinal round, which will see yet another game in enemy turf hosted by the No. 1 seeded University of New England Nor'Easters (20-5-0, 17-3-0 CNE).

The Hot Hands

Nichols saw four individual skaters contribute to scoring production against Curry College, with three of the goals coming from freshmen. CNE Rookie of the Week (2/9/2026) Justin Massa started the scoring output for the Bison with his score at 6:39. Similarly, Gavin Duckworth continues to move with momentum off of his CNE Rookie of the Week (2/23/2026) nod, accounting for a goal on the night. Freshman Alexis Trudeau and Aaron Hamel rounded out the Bison's scoring output in the win, marking a goal a-piece. 

The four scores were matched by four individual entries into the assist column coming from Aidan Flynn, Luca Ricci, Liam Boswell, and Jeremy Tremblay. Freshman goaltender Ryan Henry posted impressive defensive efforts in net, with 42 saves with a .977 save percentage, his second-best performance as a goaltender by statistics.

First Playoff Victory for Coach Gacek

The victory against Curry College was a milestone moment for the Nichols College men's ice hockey program, as it marked Alex Gacek's first CNE playoff win at the helm of the Bison. The last time the Bison celebrated a conference playoff win came four years ago on February 26, 2022, when Nichols skated past No. 3 Salve Regina with a 3-1 victory at St. George's Ice Rink. Now the Bison find themselves on the brink of another postseason breakthrough.

A Win Would Mean

Should Nichols capture victory over UNE, they would play in the CNE Championship game on Saturday, March 7th against the winner of No. 2 Endicott College and No. 3 Suffolk University. Puck drop still TBD.