GORHAM, Maine – The University of Southern Maine Huskies' men's ice hockey team tied for sixth in the 2025-26 Little East Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll. The conference announced the results of the poll on Friday morning ahead of the inaugural season of LEC ice hockey. The Huskies earned 36 points in the poll to tie with Vermont State University Castleton.
 
Plymouth State led the poll with 76 points and six first-place votes while Norwich University and Babson College finished second and third with 73 points and 70 points, respectively. Each team also had two first-place votes.
 
Led by third-year head coach Matt Pinchevsky, the Huskies went 7-17-1 last year in their final season in the New England Hockey Conference. The Huskies begin the season on the road at Salve Regina University on Friday, October 31 and will make their home debut the next day against Saint Anselm College. The team's first Little East Conference game of the season will be on Friday, November 7 at Western Connecticut State University.
 
The Huskies return two of their three leading point scorers from last season in junior forward Kayde Kinaschuk (Calgary, Alberta) and sophomore forward Gavin Simopoulos (Cape Elizabeth, Maine). Kinaschuk had a breakout season last year with a team-leading six goals and added five assists to finish third on the team in points with 11. Simopoulos tied for the most assists on the team with nine and points with 14 while playing in all 25 games. Both players will be looking to pick up where they left off last season, especially Kinashuck, who was named to the NEHC weekly honor roll for the finale week of the regular season after posting two goals and an assist in a two-game series against UMass Boston.
 
Additional forwards to watch for the Huskies include junior Ethan MacDuff (Lloydminster, Alberta) and senior Conor Donovan (Nahant, Mass./Swampscott). MacDuff recorded four goals and two assists last season and has 18 career points split evenly from nine goals and nine assists. Donovan has eight goals and four assists in his career. He is also the top returning faceoff man for the Huskies as he won 49.6% of his draws last season (123-of-248).
 
Anchoring the group of defensemen for the Huskies are seniors Cole Brennan (Sussex, N.J./ Pomfret School) and Kadin Ilott (Kenora, Ontario/Beaver Brae Secondary School). Brennan has led the Huskies in blocked shots in each of the past two seasons. He has two goals and four assists in his career. Ilott enters the season with 28 career points on seven goals and 21 assists and finished third on the team in blocked shots last season with 20.
 

2025-26 Little East Conference Men's Ice Hockey Preseason Coaches' Poll (FPV)
1.	Plymouth State	76 points	(6)
2.	Norwich	73 points	(2)
3.	Babson	70 points	(2)
4.	UMass Boston	53 points
5.	New England College	47 points
T6.	Southern Maine	36 points
T6	VTSU Castleton	36 points
8.	UMass Dartmouth	30 points
9.	Keene State	20 points
10.	Western Connecticut	9 points