NEHC RELEASE 

MARSHFIELD, Mass. – In its second and final season in the New England Hockey Conference, Suffolk men's hockey has been selected to finish seventh in the NEHC Preseason Coaches' Poll, the league office announced Wednesday afternoon.  

In a voted compiled by the conferences 10 head coaches, the Rams collected 36 points to slide into seventh.  

Reigning NEHC league champions and NCAA Division III runner-up Norwich was picked as the favorite, receiving six first place votes for 95 total points. Hobart, who made a trip to the national semifinals a year ago, received a pair of first place nods to be slated second with 88 points with UMass Boston, another 2019 postseason team, rounding out the top three behind 76 total points and one first place pick.  

Suffolk's 36 points put the blue-and-gold ahead Southern Maine (30), Castleton (25) and Johnson & Wales (11).  

The Rams, who joined the NEHC ranks last season, will skate in the league one final time as they are set to transition back to the Commonwealth Coast Conference in a department wide conference shift in 2020-21.  

Head coach Chris Glionna set up Suffolk for success in 2019-20 as he brought in 13 true freshmen to add to his 19 returners, that went 8-17 overall and 5-13 against conference competition last year. Back in the fold is Jack Kelly, who is coming off a 23-point sophomore season with 11 assists and a team-high 12 goals, as well as Brian Brooks (5g, 11a) and defensemen Billy Roche (2g, 1a) and Joe Vingi (1g, 3a).  

Suffolk, who has an exhibition game set for Saturday, Oct. 26 against Framingham State, will officially drop the puck on 2019-20 at Franklin Pierce Friday, Nov. 1.