2025-26 NCAA Preview: ECAC

Editor's Note: This is a guest post by Eli Fastiff.

ECAC Hockey enters the 2025-2026 campaign coming off a season in which the conference sent four of its members to the NCAA tournament and disrupted an otherwise all-WCHA Frozen Four. Despite graduating much of the conference's top tier of talent to the PWHL, the ECAC is still loaded with skill. Players with international experience, future Olympians, and professional prospects can be found up and down the standings. 

“The Favorites” 

Cornell 

Last Season: 16-2-4 ECAC, 25-5-5 overall; lost in Frozen Four semifinals to Ohio State 4-2 

What makes Cornell’s ECAC championship campaign from a season ago so impressive is the fact the team managed to capture its fifth ECAC championship despite losing 2024 Patty Kazmaier winner Izzy Daniel, whose 59 points totaled 25 more than the next nearest skater. Instead of slowing the Red, losing Daniel allowed Doug Derraugh’s squad’s offense depth to thrive. The Red led the nation in players with a game-winning goal (14) and tied Minnesota for total number of goal-scorers (18). The balanced attack meshed well with the nation's best defense, led by 2025 ECAC Goaltender of the Year then-sophmore Annelies Bergmann. 

Coming off the breakout campaign, Bergmann will be key to Cornell repeating its success from a year ago. Other major returning contributors will include 2025 ECAC Rookie of the Year sophomore forward Lindzi Avar, as well as senior forward Avi Adam and sisters Grace and Rose Dwyer. 

The Red graduated 11 players in the offseason, including PWHL selections, SDHL signees and a Minnesota Duluth grad transfer in Ashley Messier. With the roster down to just 21 players thanks to a freshman class of 6, staying healthy will be just as important as any on-ice keys for Cornell this season. 

Colgate 

Last Season: 18-4-0 ECAC, 30-9-0 overall; lost in NCAA second round to Minnesota 3-2 

Despite falling to win the ECAC for the first season since before the pandemic, the Raiders barely lost a step despite losing star forward Danielle Serdachny and head coach Greg Fargo after the 2024 season. Last year’s team boasted the fifth-best offense in the nation and top PWHL pick Kristýna Kaltounková, while coming heartbreakingly close to a second straight Frozen Four. 

Now in his second year at the helm, Stefan Decosse will once again have to replace a leading scorer. Luckily for the Raiders, All-ECAC second-teamer Elyssa Biederman is set for another big year. The speedy forward led the team in both points (51) and assists (32) last season. Junior Emma Pais (38 points) and senior Sara Stewert (32) will also be tasked with leading the offense, while key upperclassman defenders Avery Pickering and Casey Borgiel set to return. 

Outside of Kaltounková, the biggest loss for Colgate was the graduation of Second Team All-ECAC goaltender Hannah Murphy. Losing forward Kaia Malachino in the portal is also a blow, but the team did pick up an exciting transfer in Chloe Goofers. Early tests against Ohio State and Boston University will provide an opportunity for the team to test out the mostly inexperienced options for Murphy’s replacement and give a chance for Goofers and the team’s seven freshmen to gain some chemistry. 

“Other Contenders” 

Clarkson 

Last Season: 13-8-1 ECAC, 25-13-2 overall; lost in NCAA second round to Wisconsin 4-1 

Last season the Golden Knights came a triple overtime loss away from upsetting Cornell in the ECAC tournament semifinals and captured an NCAA tournament win over BU. However, Clarkson enters the new season having lost all three of its leading scorers from a year ago, including college hockey’s best defensive pairing in Haley Winn and Nicole Gosling. 

Still, the Golden Knights were picked third in the preseason coaches poll largely due to the return of graduate goaltender Holly Gruber and an impressive five player transfer portal haul. Gruber came on strong after starting just seven of Clarkson’s first 26 games, starting the teams final 13 contests while finishing the season with a 1.45 goals against average. Of the incoming transfers, former engineer Andrea Trnkova stands out as someone who should immediately find success in the ECAC—she posted 19 points last season for RPI. 

St. Lawrence 

Last Season: 13-6-3 ECAC, 22-12-5 overall; lost in NCAA second round to Ohio State 6-1 

Last season the Saints had 11 double-digit point scorers. Only two return. Last season the Saints rostered 17 upperclassmen. This year that number is 7. With all this turnover, wondering how St. Lawrence and head coach Chris Wells can find a way back to the NCAA tournament seems like a reasonable question. 

The answer rests on the shoulder pads of Danish senior goaltender Emma-Sofie Nordström. The 2025 Third Team All-ECAC netminder is coming off an excellent season, ending with a .934 save percentage to lift her career mark to .933. Other key returners include senior forward Kennedy Wilson and junior defender Abby Hehl. 

Quinnipiac 

Last Season: 11-8-3 ECAC, 22-12-4 overall; lost in ECAC tournament quarterfinals to Clarkson 

Despite spending much of the 2024-2025 season ranked in the top 10 nationally, the Bobcats couldn’t crack the ECAC top four leading to an early end to its season on the road against North Country rival Clarkson. Quinnipiac—like many of the other teams atop the ECAC—lost its fair

share of players in the offseason, including goaltender Kaley Doyle, leading goal scorer Maya Labad, elite defender Kendall Cooper, and defender-turned 22-point center Maddy Samoskevich. 

The good news for the Bobcats is that other key pieces remain, and a healthy nine player freshman class should provide an influx of talent. Last season’s points leader Kahlen Lamarche is set to anchor the offense, while captains Mia Lopata and Zoe Uens will lead the defense. A pair of transfers in forward Alex Law (from Boston University) and netminder Calli Hogarth (from Merrimack) should also make big impacts quickly. 

Princeton 

Last Season: 11-9-2 ECAC, 18-12-2 overall; swept in ECAC tournament quarterfinals by Colgate 

At least on paper, Princeton looks like the only team with a solid chance of challenging Cornell for the Ivy League crown. The previous iteration of the Tigers was certainly intriguing, boasting the ECAC’s best offense and eighth-best defense. 

Princeton started this offseason off with a blow, losing star forward Sarah Paul—who led the nation in goals per game—to Minnesota. The combination of ECAC Preseason All-League forwards Issy Wunder and Mackenzie Alexander, plus forward Emerson O'Leary, might be enough to make up for the exit of Paul, but the defensive woes of years past won’t be an easy fix. 

Princeton also enters this season with some key additions. Taking over behind the bench for Gardner Morey (who left to become the general manager of PWHL Vancouver) will be Courtney Kessel, fresh off two seasons coaching the PWHL’s Boston Fleet. It will be interesting to see if spending two seasons in the PWHL will be a plus for Kessel or if spending time away from the rapidly changing college hockey world will require some growing pains. Either way, she has an impressive seven member class of 2029—featuring an impressive trio of defenders— set to join her. 

“The Rest of the Pack”  

Yale 

Last Season: 10-10-2 ECAC, 16-13-3 overall; swept in ECAC tournament quarterfinals by St. Lawrence 

While the Bulldogs looked solid over stretches of last season, Yale still seemed to be a step behind the top six teams in the conference. Now, the loss of impressive goaltender Pia Dukarich leaves Yale with a hole between the pipes and it’s unlikely any of the replacement options will be an upgrade.

Brown 

Last Season: 9-10-3 ECAC, 14-13-3 overall; lost to Union in the first round of the ECAC tournament 

Brown features arguably the best forward in this tier of teams in senior Jade Iginla, but without the talent to support her the Bears struggled last season against the top teams in the ECAC. Improvement does seem to be on the horizon for Brown, and only graduating five seniors will certainly help a roster growing in experience and talent. 

Union 

Last Season: 8-14-0 ECAC, 13-23-1 overall; swept in ECAC tournament quarterfinals by Cornell 

Union’s 2024-2025 campaign was a bit confusing. Early in the season the Garnet Charges reeled off a series of impressive performances including the programs first first-ever road win over Cornell. However, Tony Maci’s squad proceeded to struggle throughout much of the rest of conference play, before coming 70 seconds away from forcing a game three in the ECAC quarterfinals with Cornell. If Union can withstand the loss of goaltender Sophie Matsoukas, Maci’s second year running the program should be more successful than his first. 

Harvard 

Last Season: 1-20-1 ECAC, 2-25-2 overall; lost to Quinnipiac in the first round of the ECAC tournament 

Harvard’s rebuild continues after an inspired, but ultimately disappointing 2024-2025 season. The Crimson seemed to enjoy playing teams from Connecticut, notching its two wins against UConn and Yale. With most of its key players returning, Harvard should improve upon last season’s program worst record. 

Dartmouth 

Last Season: 3-16-3 ECAC, 5-21-3 overall; lost to Yale in the first round of the ECAC tournament 

Losing Lauren Messier will hurt a Dartmouth squad who looked better than the record indicated a season ago. Goaltender Michaela Hesová was excellent in her rookie season and will ensure that the Green remain competitive against the rest of the conference. If the offense can turn it up a notch, Dartmouth will quickly become a difficult team to beat. 

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Last Season: 7-13-2 ECAC, 14-18-3 overall; lost to Princeton in the first round of the ECAC tournament 

Why is a team that captured wins over Colgate, Yale, and Brown at the bottom of the coaches' poll? RPI is losing a majority of their offense from last year, including two key transfers in Trnková and Morgann Skoda. While the Engineers defense should be solid, the lack of goal scoring threatens to make it a difficult season for RPI.