PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Plymouth State University men's ice hockey program will be transitioning to a new league in two years as Little East Conference (LEC) Commissioner Pamela S. Samuelson announced the LEC will begin sponsoring men's ice hockey as a championship sport starting with the 2025-26 academic year. The addition of men's ice hockey raises the LEC's championship offerings to 22 sports.
 
The conference's ability to sponsor men's ice hockey follows Keene State College's addition of men's and women's ice hockey as varsity programs, announced earlier today. LEC bylaws require sport sponsorship once six programs are offered by its primary membership, which allows the LEC to secure an immediate automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.
 
"We are very excited to begin offering men's ice hockey as a LEC Championship, and hope to soon be able to offer a women's ice hockey championship as well," said Samuelson. "Being able to bring additional sports offered by our primary members into the LEC strengthens our conference as a whole, allowing us to provide more student-athletes the same highly competitive experiences as their peers in existing LEC sports."
 
Plymouth State men's hockey has been an affiliate member of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) since 2009-10. The Panthers have posted a remarkable 176-38-20 (.795) mark over their 13 full seasons in the league, winning ten regular season titles and six conference tournament championships to date.
 
"We're excited to move into LEC play and be an active part of so many existing rivalries," said head coach Craig Russell. "It will be great for our student-athletes to be able to align more with most of our other sports while supporting them at their contests. We are thrilled to join the LEC and know it will be a great opportunity to continue to grow our program."
 
Joining Plymouth State in the new LEC men's ice hockey landscape will be UMass Dartmouth (currently in the MASCAC), UMass Boston, Southern Maine, and Vermont State University Castleton from the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) and the newly formed Keene State. The triple-round robin schedule will fill 15 games of each team's 25-game regular season slate.
 
The 2025-26 launch of LEC men's ice hockey allows Plymouth State and the other league schools to fulfill their obligations to the affiliate conferences. This marks the third expansion of sport offerings by the LEC in recent years, following the addition of men's golf and men's swimming & diving for the 2021-22 academic year.
 
Keene State will sponsor the fifth women's ice hockey program among the LEC's current primary membership, joining established programs at Plymouth State, UMass Boston, Southern Maine and VTSU Castleton, which all currently compete in the NEHC. The process to add women's ice hockey as a LEC championship sport will begin if a sixth program emerges from within or outside the LEC's primary membership.