Salve Regina University’s men’s and women’s ice hockey teams will return to the Conference of New England beginning with the 2026-27 season, university President Kelli Armstrong announced Friday.
The Seahawks are rejoining the league formerly known as the Commonwealth Coast Conference after spending the upcoming 2025-26 season as independents.
“We are very grateful to the CNE for this membership and look forward to reuniting with our former colleagues on the ice,” Armstrong said. “Our hockey community is deeply valued at Salve and our athletes contribute in such important ways to our mission.”
The programs have a history with CNE institutions, having previously competed in the CCC before a brief stint in the now-defunct New England Hockey Conference.
CNE Commissioner Patrick Colbert said Salve Regina was “a critical part of the New England hockey landscape” with established programs and a proven competitive history.
“It was important that the CNE strategically position itself to be the right fit for them competitively and philosophically,” Colbert said.
Both Salve hockey programs hosted postseason CCC games during the 2023-24 season at Howard Rink in Middletown. The men’s team reached the conference final for the third time in eight years after defeating top-seeded Curry 7-2 in the semifinals.
Athletic Director Sean Sullivan said the university was “thrilled” to rejoin the conference.
“For years, thanks to such an impressive array of hockey programs in the CNE, Salve Regina enjoyed competing against some of the strongest men’s and women’s teams in both the region and across the country,” Sullivan said.
The men’s program captured the final ECAC Northeast Championship in 2015-16 and advanced to its first NCAA Division III tournament appearance. Two years later, the team reached the national championship game, falling 3-2 in double overtime to St. Norbert.
The women’s team previously upset top-seeded Manhattanville 1-0 in the 2008-09 ECAC Women’s East semifinals.
As independents next season, both teams will compete for at-large bids to the NCAA Division III championships.
The CNE, originally founded as the Commonwealth Coast Conference in 1984, is composed of 11 full members and five associate members throughout New England.
