GORHAM, Maine – University of Southern Maine head coach Brian Bickford '87 has been named the Little East Conference Coach of the Year for the second year in a row after leading the Huskies to their second consecutive LEC men's golf title last week. The Little East Conference announced the winner of the award on Wednesday afternoon following a vote by the conference's coaches. The rest of the LEC major awards and the all-conference teams were finalized after the conference championship ended on Friday.
 
Freshman Keenan Buteau (Scarborough, Maine) was named the LEC Rookie of the Year as the top placing freshman in the championship field. Buteau had a two-round score of 164 (+22) to place third overall and earned First Team All-LEC honors as well. He won the Rookie of the Year award by edging out Western Connecticut State's Logan Starks by two strokes.
 
Buteau is the first Husky to win the LEC Rookie of the Year award. Three Huskies, Cody Berkowitz in 2008, Brad Myers in 2013 and Greg Kalagias in 2016, won Rookie of the Year award when the Huskies competed in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC).
 
A pair of Huskies, sophomores Alex Fournier (Augusta, Maine/Cony) and Alex Grant (St. Albans, Maine/Nokomis Regional), earned Second Team All-LEC honors by finishing in the second half of the top 10. Fournier, who also earned second team honors in 2024, placed seventh with a 168 (+26) while Grant tied for eighth with a 170 (+28).
 
As conference champions, the Huskies have earned a bid to the 2026 NCAA Division III National Championship on May 12-15, 2026 at Mission Resort + Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. The team will close out their fall season this weekend at the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association Championship at The Captains Course in Brewster, Mass.