PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Vermont State University Castleton men's ice hockey will play its games in the Little East Conference beginning in the 2025-26 season, following an announcement by Little East Conference (LEC) Commissioner Pamela S. Samuelson on Monday that the league will be adding its 22nd championship sport.
 
Since the 2015-16 season, VTSU Castleton men's ice hockey has played in the New England Hockey Conference after the league changed its name from the ECAC East. UMass Boston and the University of Southern Maine are also current members of the NEHC that will be moving to the LEC for the 2025-26 campaign.
 
The Conference's ability to sponsor men's ice hockey follows Keene State College's addition of men's and women's ice hockey as varsity programs. LEC bylaws require sport sponsorship once six programs are offered by its primary membership, which allows the LEC to secure an immediate automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.
 
"We are very excited to begin offering men's ice hockey as a LEC Championship, and hope to soon be able to offer a women's ice hockey championship as well," said Samuelson. "Being able to bring additional sports offered by our primary members into the LEC strengthens our conference as a whole, allowing us to provide more student-athletes the same highly competitive experiences as their peers in existing LEC sports."
 
The inaugural season of LEC men's ice hockey will be played between Keene State, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, Plymouth State University, University of Southern Maine and VTSU Castleton. The triple-round robin schedule will fill 15 games of each team's 25-game regular season slate.
 
The 2025-26 launch of LEC men's ice hockey will allow existing programs to fulfill obligations to their current affiliate conferences. This marks the third expansion of sport offering by the LEC in recent years, following the addition of men's golf (2021-22) and men's swimming & diving for the 2021-22 academic year.
 
Keene State will sponsor the fifth women's ice hockey program among the LEC's current primary membership, joining established programs at UMass Boston, Plymouth State, Southern Maine and VTSU Castleton. The process to add women's ice hockey as a LEC championship sport will begin if a sixth program emerges from within or outside of the LEC's primary membership.