GORHAM, Maine – The University of Southern Maine Huskies' women's ice hockey team was picked fifth in the 2025-26 Little East Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll. The conference announced the results of the poll on Thursday afternoon ahead of the inaugural season of LEC ice hockey. The Huskies earned 22 points in the poll to finish a point behind Plymouth State and UMass Boston, who tied for third with 23 points each.
 
Norwich University led the poll with 36 points and six first-place votes. Vermont State University Castleton placed second with 24 points. Plymouth State also received a first-place vote.
 
Led by head coach John Lauziere '02, the Huskies went 11-13-2 last season and finished sixth in the New England Hockey Conference last season. The team made it to the NEHC tournament before exiting in the first round. The team will start the season with a home game against the University of New England on Friday, October 31 and will play its first Little East Conference game on Friday, November 7 on the road at New England College. This season will be Lauziere's 20th as the program's head coach.
 
Offensively, the Huskies have two of their top three point scorers returning from last season in senior forwards Olivia Stewart (Fredericton, New Brunswick/Mount Academy) and Saige MacLeod (Dryden, Ontario). Stewart led the team in assists last season with 10 and tied for the team lead in points with 15. She has played in 76 career games and will be looking to become the 12th player in program history to reach the 50-point milestone. She enters the season with 44 career points on 17 goals and 27 assists. MacLeod set career-highs in goals (eight), assists (six) and points (14) last season. She ranked second on the team in goals and third in points. MacLeod has scored 18 goals and has 15 assists in her 81-game career.
 
In addition to Stewart and MacLeod, the Huskies have a pair of veteran prolific scorers returning this season in graduate student Madison Chagnon (St. Albans, Vt./Rice Memorial) and fifth-year senior Jillian Jackson (Fredericton, New Brunswick/Ontario Hockey Academy). Chagnon, a 2022-23 First Team All-NEHC selection, returns after missing the majority of last season due to an injury. She scored three goals in six games last year before her season came to an end. One of the top scorers in program history, Chagnon holds the program record for game-winning goals with 15 and ranks third in total goals with 46. Her 66 career points are tied for seventh in program history. Jackson had two goals and an assist over the course of nine games last season before suffering a season-ending injury. Last season was her first as a Husky after a three-year career at Norwich in which she had 12 goals and 12 assists in 74 career games.
 
Seniors Audrey Donahue (Timberlea, Nova Scotia/Kimball Union Academy) and Caroline Thompson (Crapaud, Prince Edward Island/Mount Academy) are among the top returning defenders for the Huskies. Donahue, who is in her second season with the Huskies after transferring from Nazareth University, played in all 26 games last season and recorded two goals and three assists. Thompson, a NEHC All-Rookie Team selection in 2022-23, has played in 75 career games and has logged five goals and 15 assists.
 
The Huskies will have a new face at goalie for the first time in five years after the graduation of Haley McKim, the program record holder in nearly every goaltending category. Junior transfer Maggie Jones (St. John's, Newfoundland/Mount Academy) from SUNY Morrisville brings experience between the pipes as she earned 10 wins and had three shutouts during her two seasons at SUNY Morrisville.

 

2025-26 Little East Conference Women's Ice Hockey Preseason Coaches' Poll (FPV)
1.	Norwich	36 points	(6)
2.	VTSU Castleton	24 points
T3.	UMass Boston	23 points	(1)
T3.	Plymoouth State	23 points
5.	Southern Maine	22 points
6.	Keene State	13 points
7.	New England College	6 points