Stonehill College is entering the NCAA Division I men's and women's ice hockey ranks.
The Skyhawk men's hockey team, who currently compete in the Northeast-10 Conference as an NCAA Division II member, will skate as an NCAA Division I independent beginning with the 2022-23 season. The move is part of Stonehill's overall athletic department transition to NCAA Division I as the newest member of the Northeast Conference, with the Skyhawks to become full conference members in 2026-27 after completing the NCAA's four-year reclassification period.
Stonehill, a private Catholic college in Easton, Mass. with approximately 2,500 undergraduate students, will also inaugurate its NCAA Division I women's ice hockey team this fall, with the Skyhawks to compete in the New England Women’s Collegiate Hockey Alliance. Their conference opponents will include Franklin Pierce, Long Island, Post, Sacred Heart, St. Anselm and St. Michael's.
The Stonehill men's program got its start in 1978-79, when the school's nickname was the Chieftains, which was officially changed to Skyhawks in 2005. Stonehill did not compete in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but returned for 2021-22 when it finished 7-19-2 overall and advanced to the Northeast-10 semifinals. Next season it will join fellow NCAA Division I men's independents Alaska Anchorage, Alaska (Fairbanks), Arizona State and Long Island.
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