Men's Ice Hockey

Hamilton Earns Top Seed for 2026 NESCAC Men's Ice Hockey Championship

HADLEY, Mass. - The field for the 2026 NESCAC Men’s Ice Hockey Championship wasn’t determined until the final whistle on the last weekend of the regular season. For the second consecutive season, the Hamilton Continentals are the No. 1 seed. Hamilton stood atop the standings all season long and wrapped up the top seed with 42 points. 
 
The NESCAC Men’s Ice Hockey Championship gets underway on Saturday, February 28 with quarterfinal games at the higher seeds. The highest remaining seed among the quarterfinal winners will host the semifinals on March 7 and the championship game on March 8.
 
HOW TO WATCH
All games will be webcast via the NESCAC Network for free and available at NESCAC.com on computers and mobile devices. The webcasts can also be seen on Roku, AppleTV, and Amazon Fire devices. Search for NESCAC Network and download the channel. Click here for more information.
 
CHAMPIONSHIP GEAR
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY | Past Champions
Hamilton is the defending NESCAC Champion after winning its first title in team history with a 3-0 victory over Tufts last season. The Continentals are one of seven NESCAC schools to own a conference title. Middlebury has won the most of any NESCAC institution (8 last: 2010). Trinity has claimed seven championships (last: 2024), while Amherst (3 last: 2015) and Bowdoin (3 last: 2023) have three each. Colby (2018) and Wesleyan (2020) are the other schools with a championship trophy.
 
Tiebreaker
Connecticut College and Trinity both finished with 21 points. In head-to-head competition, Connecticut College recorded two regulation wins to earn the No. 8 seed.
 
No. 1 Hamilton (18-4-2, 14-3-1 NESCAC) vs. No. 8 Conn. College (10-13-1, 6-11-1 NESCAC)
  • Hamilton, which won its first NESCAC title in team history last year, is the No. 1 seed for the second consecutive season and third time overall.
  • The Continentals will host a quarterfinal game for the fourth straight championship.
  • Hamilton leads the NESCAC in goals scored (88), goals per game (3.67), assists (157), and assists per game (6.54), and has allowed a league-low 39 goals.
  • Hamilton has reached the semifinals in six of the last eight championships.
  • Conn. College is the No. 8 seed for the second consecutive season. The Camels are playing in the NESCAC Tournament for the third consecutive season and fourth time in five years.
  • The Camels are looking to pick up their second NESCAC postseason win in program history. Their first NESCAC Tournament win came in 2015.
  • Hamilton swept the regular season series versus Conn. College with a pair of shutouts (6-0 and 4-0). The NESCAC Tournament series is knotted at 1-1. The quarterfinal is a rematch of last year's match, which the Continentals won 5-2.
No. 2 Bowdoin (17-6-1, 13-4-1 NESCAC) vs. No. 7 Amherst (12-10-2, 7-10-1 NESCAC)
  • Bowdoin is the No. 2 seed for the second time in three years and will host a quarterfinal for the third year in a row.
  • The Polar Bears are making their sixth consecutive appearance in the NESCAC Tournament. Bowdoin’s 17 wins are the most since the 2013-14 season.
  • Bowdoin enters the tournament having won seven of its last eight games.
  • The Polar Bears rank second in the conference in goals scored (83) and goals allowed (46).
  • Amherst, which has qualified for every NESCAC Championship, is the No. 7 seed for the first time since 2020.
  • The Mammoths posted back-to-back shutout wins over Middlebury (3-0) and Williams (6-0) to secure their spot in the tournament field.
  • Bowdoin and Amherst split the regular season series. Amherst won at Bowdoin, 2-1, while the Polar Bears were victorious on the Mammoths’ home ice, 3-0. Bowdoin holds a 6-2 advantage in the NESCAC Tournament series. The teams last met in the 2016 quarterfinals, with Amherst earning an 8-5 victory.
No. 3 Tufts (12-11-1, 9-9-0 NESCAC) vs. No. 6 Williams (9-13-2, 8-10-0 NESCAC)
  • Tufts, last year’s NESCAC Runners-Up, is the No. 3 seed for the second time in three years, matching the highest seed in program history.
  • The Jumbos have qualified for the tournament for the fifth year in a row and ninth time in the last 10 championships.
  • Tufts has played in the NESCAC Championship game the past two seasons.
  • The Jumbos enter the tournament having won four of their last six games, including a 4-1 win over Bowdoin in the regular-season finale.
  • Williams returns to the tournament field after a two-year hiatus. The Ephs are the No. 6 seed for the first time since 2005.
  • The Ephs upset Hamilton in Clinton, N.Y., 4-3, on the last weekend of the regular season and enter the tournament having won four of their last six games.
  • Williams’ last quarterfinal win came in 2023 as the No. 8 seed, and the Ephs advanced to the championship game that season.
  • The Ephs won both regular-season games over Tufts in overtime, winning 4-3 in Williamstown and 5-4 in Medford, Mass. The NESCAC Tournament series is tied 1-1 after the Jumbos posted a 2-1 win in the 2016 quarterfinals.
No. 4 Middlebury (13-8-3, 9-7-2) vs. No. 5 Wesleyan (9-15-0, 8-10-0)
  • Middlebury has qualified for the NESCAC Championship for the third straight season. The Panthers are the No. 4 seed for the first time since 2020.
  • Middlebury has reached the last two semifinals and will host a quarterfinal game for the first time since 2020.
  • Wesleyan is making its first appearance in the NESCAC Tournament since 2023. The Cardinals are the No. 5 seed for the first time since 2020, the same year they won the NESCAC title.
  • Middlebury and Wesleyan split the regular-season series. The Panthers won at Wesleyan, 4-2, while the Cardinals won at Middlebury, 5-2. The NESCAC postseason series stands at 2-2. Wesleyan won the last matchup, 4-2, in the 2020 quarterfinals.