For Immediate Release
Contact Dave Geringer, Sports Information Director, (508) 990-9651  [log in to unmask]
Monday, 14 July, 2008					

CORSAIRS TO PLAY IN NEW HOCKEY LEAGUE STARTING IN 2009-2010

WESTFIELD, MA-The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's men’s ice hockey team, which has been involved with a league run by the Eastern College Athletic Conference since the program’s inception, will leave the ECAC Northeast after the 2008-09 season and join a new conference.

The new league will be run by the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference, and will include five members of the MASCAC as well as UMass Dartmouth and Plymouth State. Fitchburg State, Framingham State, and Worcester State will also leave the ECAC Northeast for the new MASCAC league, Salem State will leave the ECAC East, and Westfield State will join the league after adding hockey this season and competing in the ECAC Northeast.  The MASCAC sponsored men’s ice hockey for 32 years, between 1971 and 2003.

With Westfield State reinstating its program following a 20-year hiatus, the MASCAC now has five member institutions sponsoring men’s ice hockey, and per conference bylaws, ice hockey will now become a MASCAC-recognized sport. 
 
“We are excited to announce the addition of men’s ice hockey as a MASCAC-sponsored sport,” MASCAC Commissioner Angela Baumann said in a statement released by the MASCAC office. “UMass Dartmouth and Plymouth State University will be welcomed additions to our conference. We look forward to the opportunities this new league will provide to our member institutions and men’s ice hockey student-athletes.”

According to the MASCAC release, following a mandatory two-year waiting period, the MASCAC will be sanctioned by the NCAA and receive an automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Championships beginning in 2011-12.

“We’re thrilled to be joining a smaller, more manageable conference with schools that have similar standards for athletics and academics,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach John Rolli. “We have enjoyed a long and friendly relationship with ECAC teams, and we will expect to continue to play many ECAC teams in the years ahead.”

A MASCAC/LEC (Little East Conference) alliance provides a great opportunity for our ice hockey program to be aligned alongside institutions that have athletic programs that are similar to ours", said UMass Dartmouth Director of Athletics Ian Day. "I would like to thank Coach Rolli for the leadership role he took with the rest of the coaches in the league in helping to make this happen. Their discussions will help frame the structure of the league." 

UMASS DARTMOUTH HOCKEY