For Immediate Release
Contact Dave Geringer, Sports Information Director, (508) 990-9651  [log in to unmask]
Monday, October 29, 2007					

CORSAIRS PICKED TO FINISH FIRST IN ECAC NORTHEAST

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA– The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s hockey team has achieved another first.

For the first time in recent memory, the Corsairs are picked to finish first in the Eastern College Athletic Conference standings.

UMass Dartmouth, which has won both the regular season title and the post-season tournament in each of the past two seasons, received eight of the 13 first-place votes and 163 points in the poll. Curry, which finished second in each of the past two regular season races and lost to the Corsairs in the finals two seasons ago and to Wentworth in the semi-finals last year, got four first-place votes and 156 points. Wentworth received the other first-place vote and 148 points, while Plymouth State was fourth with 115 points. Nichols, Fitchburg, Johnson & Wales and Suffolk were picked to fill the other four post-season playoff spots and finish fifth through eighth. Salve Regina, Western New England, Worcester State, Becker and Framingham State were picked to fill out the rest of the standings. 

“Pre-season polls are usually an acknowledgement of how the team has played in the recent past, and we are 42-3 the last three years with back to back championships,” said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach John Rolli. “Often times, polls reflect past achievement, The fact of the matter is that we’ve lost five players from our top two lines and arguably our best defenseman from a year ago. We have to replace a significant number of players. There are a lot of good teams in our conference, and the ECAC Northeast teams are receiving more and more national recognition. We will have more than our work cut out for us.”

The Corsairs, who return All-Conference junior goaltender Jeff Grant (Medway, MA/Valley Junior Warriors) and senior forward Jeff Grant (Burlington, MA/Austin Prep), will begin their season at Becker November 10th. The home opener is set for October 17th against Plymouth State, the last team to beat UMass Dartmouth at Hetland Arena.

UMASS DARTMOUTH HOCKEY

ECAC NORTHEAST PRE-SEASON POLL

						First place votes	Points

1-UMass Dartmouth					8		163
2-Curry						4		156
3-Wentworth						1		148
4-Plymouth State							115
5-Nichols								106
6-Fitchburg State							104
7-Johnson & Wales							  96
8-Suffolk								  80
9-Salve Regina							  65
10-Western New England						  55
11-Worcester State							  41
12-Becker								  29
13-Framingham State							  25