Everyone Else Looking up at the Two Huskies: Women’s Hockey East Preview

As Hockey East tries to seize back the title of best eastern conference from the ECAC, it can hang its hat on a pair of teams that advanced to the 2026 NCAA tournament.

After winning the conference’s regular season crown and upsetting Minnesota to advance to the Frozen Four a year ago, Northeastern sit atop the Women's Hockey East 2026-27 Preseason Coaches' Poll and are presumptive favorites as the Huskies return a strong core. Their strongest challenge will come from Hockey East’s other Huskies, Connecticut, who downed Northeastern in double overtime the last time the two sides met to claim the Hockey East Tournament championship.

Boston College brings back a young core that looks to take a step forward as the Eagles attempt to return to last decade’s heights. Less than twenty four months removed from a conference championship, their Comm Ave rivals, Boston University, face a defining year in Tara Watchorn’s tenure after a disappointing 2025-26. Holy Cross rounds out the top-half of the preseason poll fresh off the best season in program history but must replace a productive goaltending tandem.

The northern trio of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine have the potential to challenge the top-five for a bye into the Hockey East quarterfinals, a round all three reached a year ago. Vermont was the only team of the group to advance to conference semifinals, upsetting Boston College on the road to reach the stage. The final two teams in the conference, Providence and Merrimack, welcome in new coaches who take over under different timelines and circumstances.

Is the Frozen Four the ceiling or first step for Northeastern?

Northeastern headed to the Twin Cities and stunned fourth seeded Minnesota to advance to the Huskies’ first final four in three years before being eliminated by Ohio State 5-0 in the national semifinal after allowing four first period goals. The Huskies were able to make a statement taking down one of the WCHA’s “big three” but were thoroughly outclassed from puck drop by one of the two teams truly seen as national title contenders. The two results raise the question of if Northeastern can truly challenge Wisconsin and Ohio State for a national title in 2026-27 or if their ceiling is hoping to avoid those two in the national quarterfinals and advance to the Frozen Four as little more than a sacrificial lamb.

Unlike the two teams directly behind Northeastern in the Hockey East preseason poll, the Huskies return a starting goaltender who is among the nation’s best. In her second season of college hockey, Lisa Jönsson limited opponents to a 1.73 goals against average while posting a .939 save percentage. She’s already earned plenty of recognition in her relatively young career, being named to the All-USCHO Rookie Team and the Hockey East Rookie of the Year in 2024-25, being selected as a New England All-Star and to the All-Hockey East second team in 2025-26, and being selected to College Hockey on SI’s All-American third team. If the Huskies want to stun the WCHA’s top teams, Jönsson will need to play the game or games of her life at the right time.

Despite only having one collegiate season under her belt, Stryker Zablocki has already staked her claim as arguably one of the best players not only in Hockey East but nationally. The forward won the Cami Granato Award as Hockey East’s most valuable player after capturing the league's scoring title with 44 points on 19 goals and 25 assists as a freshman. Zablocki is not only on the radar of the opposing coaches but also the Canadian national team, earning a spot on the nation’s development team this summer. While the Huskies have depth that is unrivaled in Hockey East, they will struggle to match up line for line with Wisconsin or Ohio State and will need players like Zablocki, who have the ability to have a major impact on any game they play in, to step up in March.

It’s important for Northeastern to look too far ahead, as they struggled in marquee single-elimination tournaments prior to the national tournament. In the Beanpot, Northeastern were stunned in overtime by Boston University, a team that finished with half as many regular season points as the Huskies. The struggles continued into the Hockey East tournament, as Northeastern fell to Connecticut in double overtime, in a game that was relocated from Boston to Storrs due to Northeastern’s lack of a usable rink.

Connecticut looks to replace Chan, challenge Northeastern again

Connecticut's recent championship pedigree, a pair of regular season and tournament conference championships over the past three seasons, developed with Tia Chan in net. The 2026 National Goalie of the Year was selected to a Hockey East all-star team during all four of her years as the Huskies’ starter and departs Storrs with her name all over the program record book. As Chan heads west to joining PWHL San Jose, UConn sophomore Taylor Belchetz looks to take over the starting job after being the primary backup a year ago, posting a 2.41 goals against average and .884 save percentage in four appearances, including two starts.

In terms of skaters, UConn will rely on a trio of forwards selected to the All-Hockey East second team last season. Claire Murdoch followed up a unanimous Hockey East Rookie of the Year by finishing one point off the team lead with 39 points on 12 goals and 27 assists as a junior. She was joined by Julia Pellerin who posted 30 points on 14 goals and 16 assists in her first season since transferring in from Boston College, where she was a first-team selection in 2024-25. Rounding out the group is two-way forward Maya Serdachny who posted career high offensive numbers with six goals, 15 points, and 21 points while also blocking 70 shots.

The freshman class also possesses a trio of players that could make an instant impact. Laurie Aubin joins from Canadian powerhouse Stanstead College after an impressive showing for Team Canada at the IIHF U18 World Championships, with ten points in six games. The other standouts in the freshman class are twins Caileigh and Chelsea Tiller from Ontario. Caileigh Tiller notched over 100 points for the Burlington Barracudas, the fourth player to do so in program history, and represented Canada twice at the U18 world championships, recording 16 points on six goals and ten assists in 11 games. Chelsea Tiller rewrote the record books for the Barracudas with 75 points over two seasons, the most by a defensewoman in franchise history. She also joined her sister at the 2026 IIHF U18 World Championships, adding a pair of points in six games.

The other thing is that there’s a few freshmen coming in who are expected to be big impact players: namely, Laurie Aubin and the Tiller twins (Caileigh and Chelsea)

Young Core has Eagles dreaming of return to national prominence

It wasn’t long ago that names like Barnes, Bilka, Carpenter, and Kelleher graced Kelley Rink and the Eagles were a perennial threat to reach the Frozen Four but after eight trophyless seasons it has started to feel like an eternity for the Boston College faithful.

While Boston College never bottomed out, the Eagles have finished inside the top-four of Hockey East for sixteen consecutive seasons, but have seen to be a step below top contenders in the conference in recent years. If Boston College returns to the top of Hockey East, it will be thanks to a young core that broke onto the scene in 2025-26.

Rising junior Olivia Maffeo earned a spot on the top blue line pairing last season and a third team All-Hockey East selection after a modest freshman campaign in 2024-25. First-year Madelyn Murphy also made her impact felt on the blue line, being selected to the All-Hockey East first team and gives Katie Crowley options on how to deploy the pair both in five-on-five play and in special teams situations.

Among the Eagles’ forwards, the top-line will feature a pair of players selected to last season’s Hockey East All-Rookie team, anchored by senior captain Sammy Taber. Maxim Tremblay ranked third on the team in points, posting 22 on an even split of goals and assists, in her first season with Boston College after joining from Stanstead College. On any other team, 22 points from a freshman would ensure the player enters their sophomore year as the unquestioned young star but Tremblay was overshadowed by her classmate Ava Thomas, who burst onto the scene with 46 points in 35 games. An impressive freshman campaign saw Thomas make the All-Hockey East first team as a unanimous selection and being named a finalist for the Cammi Granato Award, given to the most valuable player in the conference.

The big question for Boston College comes in net as three year starter Grace Campbell heads to the PWHL’s Toronto Sceptres as an undrafted free agent after playing nearly every minute and dragging the Eagles to a third place finish in 2025-26. She led the conference with 1,129 saves in 2025-26 and finished her career with 3,181 saves, the second most in program history. Returning goaltenders Bailey Callaway and Bella Pomarico combined to make just eight appearances and play just over eighty minutes in 2025-26, with Callaway making the pair’s only start. At least one of the two will need to step into a major role to replace Capbell, with Callaway having the inside track to be the number one goaltender for Boston College, a team that relies on a true starter more than most programs.

Turnpike Trophy rivals look to emerge as contenders

Few teams have as varied external expectations as Boston University, as the Terriers tie with Holy Cross for fourth in the Hockey East preseason poll after finishing eight in 2025-26. It’s been a mixed bag for Tara Watchorn, as she’s had two bottom-half finishes split up by a surprise second place regular season finish and a conference tournament championship during her first three years leading the Terriers program. Year four could be make or break for Watchorn as she’ll rely on senior netminder Mari Petersen, who posted a 2.15 goals against average last season, senior Clara Yuhn, 17 points in 2025-26, and junior Kaleigh Quigg, 12 points in 2025-26, to bring Boston University back towards the top of the table.

Holy Cross, similar to Connecticut and Boston College, will have its season defined by how the team replaces highly productive goaltenders. For the Crusaders, it’s the conference’s best goalie tandem that moves on as Abby Hornung and Brooke Loranger both graduated after leading Holy Cross to a program best fourth place finish. Hornung had a year of eligibility remaining but was forced to depart Worcester as Holy Cross does not have a grad school, which could prove to be problematic down the road as the five in five era of college hockey begins. The Crusaders will need to improve offensively after scoring just 2.4 goals per game in 2025-26 to make up for an expected downtick in goaltender play, with Violet Carroll expected to lead Holy Cross in scoring once again after posting ten points and sixteen assists en route to being selected to the Hockey East All-Rookie team.

Northern rivals enter season as dark horses

Vermont advanced to the 2026 Hockey East semifinals after upsetting Boston College, the first time in program history the Catamounts have beaten the Eagles in postseason play. The Catamounts return their top five scorers, four that reached the twenty point mark, their top shot blocker, and all three goaltenders from a year ago. The group combined for 57 goals, 75 assists, 132 points, 168 blocked shots, a 2.41 goals against average and .908 save percentage. The big question for head coach Jim Plumer is if it's time to decide on a true number one goaltender after Zoe Cliche and Ellie Simmons each started 15 games in 2025-26. Simmons has the edge based on last season's performance, having a goals against average nearly a full goal lower than Cliche and a save percentage that was better by thirty points.

New Hampshire finished in the top half of Hockey East a year ago and will have their work cut out for them if they want to climb up the table, as the middle of the conference is much improved from a year ago. If they do improve, it starts with Nini Rossi building off of an impressive freshman season. The Shattuck-St. Mary’s product was overshadowed a bit by fellow first-years Ava Thomas and Stryker Zablocki at Boston College and Northeastern but if she continues to produce in her second season in Durham, she’ll be impossible to ignore. Already a second-team All-Hockey East selection, Rossi figures to be among the conference’s top scorers as she joins Danika Botterill and Josie Linn on a top-line with three twenty-plus point producers.

If Maine wants to take a step towards and avoid the opening round of the Hockey East tournament, the Black Bears will need to find a more consistent offensive production after no skaters reached twenty points and only half a dozen passed ten points a year ago. Isabell Michaud, who led Maine with 19 points as a freshman, seems poised to take the offensive reins but won’t be able to lead the offense by herself. Fellow sophomores Mackenzie Podewell and Lulu Rucinski, as well as junior Stephanie Jacob, all reached 15 points in 2025-26 and give the Black Bears a group of contenders to pace the offense in 2026-27. This season may be too soon for Maine to be legitimate contenders but if the quartet develops as expected, they could be a dangerous bunch in 2027-28.

Two different paths to coaching changes

Providence will have to weather some turmoil, as the Friars were rocked by head coach Matt Kelley resigning just over a month before the season opener against Sacred Heart. He’ll be replaced by Nicole Norton who was promoted from her role as associate head coach. On the ice, the changes don’t get any easier as Norton and Providence need to find a way to replace 2024-25 Hockey East Player of the Year Reichen Kirchmair and outgoing transfer Jessie Pellerin, who heads to Clarkson. Part of the solution will be Audrey Knapp stepping into a bigger role, the senior ranked second on the team a year ago with 23 points on seven goals and 16 assists. The Friars will need here to return to the scoring pace she had in 2024-25 when she tied Kirchmair for the Hockey East lead with 15 goals.

Courtney Kennedy takes the reins as she looks to drag Merrimack out of the cellar but the rebuild may take time, the Warriors have finished in the bottom two every year since joining Hockey East a decade ago. The talent won’t quite be up to the level Kennedy had as the head coach for the United States U18 national team or as a skills coach for the PWHL’s Boston Fleet but there are a few bright spots that could make Merrimack competitive early in her tenure. After leading the Warriors in all major offensive categories a year ago, Emma Pfeffer looks to build off a breakout season as a junior. She’ll be joined on the top line by graduate student Avery Anderson, who ranked second in both goals and assists, as the pair’s experience should help usher in a new era of Merrimack hockey.

Women's Hockey East 2026-27 Preseason Coaches' Poll

Place School (First Place Votes) - Points

1. Northeastern (8) - 89
2. UConn (2) - 83
3. Boston College - 64
T-4. Boston University - 60
T-4. Holy Cross - 60
6. Vermont - 54
7. New Hampshire - 42
8. Maine - 33
9. Providence- 31
10. Merrimack - 24

College Hockey on SI Preseason All-American Selections

Pos. - Name, Cl., School

On SI Preseason All-Americans Second Team

F - Ava Thomas, So., Boston College

On SI Preseason All-Americans Third Team

F - Stryker Zablocki, So., Northeastern

D - Madelyn Murphy, So., Boston College

G - Lisa Jönsson, Jr, Northeastern

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