DUDLEY, Mass. (3/27/2026) – Two CNE All-Conference honors, six CNE weekly awards, a playoff berth for the third straight season, and Boston Landing Collegiate Invitational champions, the 2025-26 men's ice hockey season has a lot to highlight and things to look back on.
Head Coach
Alex Gacek finished his fourth season with the Bison with an 11-15-1 overall record, including a 7-12-1 conference record. His program was effective on the power play, finishing third in the Conference of New England in power play percentage with a .196. The Bison finished in fifth place in the CNE, clinching a playoff spot for the third straight year. Gacek's squad saw multiple CNE All-Conference entries for the second straight season, with sophomore defenseman
Luca Ricci earning first team and junior forward
CJ Zezima earning third team honors.
The Bison opened Conference of New England play with a three-game win streak, winning their conference opener 7-1 at home against Roger Williams University before sweeping a home-and-home series against Johnson & Wales University with a 2-1 win and a 4-3 win in OT. In the 7-1 win over Roger Williams, freshman
Nick Brennan recorded two goals and an assist, bringing his weekly total to four points after also scoring the previous day against Rivier University. His efforts earned him CNE Rookie of the Week honors for that week, claiming the first conference weekly award for the men's hockey program in the 2025-26 season. The win also saw the team combine for 20 points, the most of any game in the season. In the 4-3 overtime win against the Wildcats, junior
Jeremy Tremblay proved to be the hero, scoring the game-ending goal 3:18 into the overtime period with assists from
Alexis Trudeau and
Dylan Ray.
The men's ice hockey program hosted their sixth Boston Landing Collegiate Invitational this year, welcoming SUNY Potsdam, Southern New Hampshire University, and Connecticut College at the Warrior Ice Arena. After a 3-1 win on Saturday against SUNY Potsdam, the Bison faced Connecticut College in the championship game on Sunday. Nichols took an early 2-0 lead in the first period through goals from Tremblay and
Christian Holden before extending the lead to 4-1 going into the last period of play. With less than a minute left in the third period, Ricci scored an empty netter to ice the game and secure the program's first Boston Landing Collegiate Invitational win since 2023. Freshman goaltender
Ryan Henry earned Boston Landing Collegiate Invitational Most Valuable Player, posting a 1.00 GAA and .974 save percentage through two games, totaling 75 saves. He was also honored with CNE Goalie and Rookie of the Week for his efforts. Ricci was placed on the Boston Landing Collegiate Invitational All-Tournament Team with Henry for his 1 goal and 3 assists for 4 points in the two games played. Ricci earned CNE Player of the Week, resulting in the Bison sweeping the Conference of New England weekly awards for January 5
th.
After earning the fifth seed, the Bison faced fourth-seeded Curry College in the first round of the CNE tournament. The Colonels earned national recognition all season, being ranked in national polls every week up to the final week of the season. The Bison opened up the scoring with an unassisted goal from
Justin Massa before Curry responded 37 seconds later with a goal of their own to make it 1-1 after the first period. In the second period,
Gavin Duckworth scored the only goal from an assist from
Liam Boswell to give the lead to the Bison, and they never looked back. An insurance goal from
Aaron Hamel halfway through the third period and an empty net goal from Trudeau gave the Bison a 4-1 upset win over the Colonels, advancing them to the semifinals before they fell to the one-seeded University of New England.
Ricci saw his name in the top ten in the Conference of New England for assists, finishing in 10th with 16 assists in the season. Zezima finished 7th in the CNE in face-off win percentage with a .565, while Zezima and
Tristan Kimmen finished 9th and 10th respectively in power play goals with four apiece. In the goaltender categories, Henry led the way, finishing 5th in the CNE in goals against average with a 2.39, 4th in saves per game with 29.24, and 2nd in saves percentage with a .929.
SEASON LEADERS
Goals: CJ Zezima &
Jeremy Tremblay (9)
Assists: Luca Ricci (16 – Ranked 10th in CNE)
Points: CJ Zezima (20)
Plus/Minus: Aaron Hamel (+6)
Face-off Winning Percentage: CJ Zezima (.565 – Ranked 7th in CNE)
Blocked Shots: Tristan Kimmen (29)
Wins: Ryan Henry (8)
GAA: Ryan Henry (2.39 – Ranked 5th in CNE)
SV%: Ryan Henry (.929 – Ranked 2nd in CNE)
SEASON AWARDS
CNE Player of the Week: Luca Ricci (1/5)
CNE Goalie of the Week: Ryan Henry (1/5)
CNE Rookie of the Week: Nick Brennan (11/10),
Ryan Henry (1/5),
Justin Massa (2/9), and
Gavin Duckworth (2/23)
CNE All-Conference First Team: Luca Ricci
CNE All-Conference Third Team: CJ Zezima
CNE Community Service Team: Aaron Hamel
