GORHAM, Maine – The University of Southern Maine Huskies men's ice hockey leadership team for the 2026-27 season will consist of captain Ethan MacDuff (Lloydminster, Alberta), and assistant captains Gavin Simopoulos (Cape Elizabeth, Maine), Adrian Jubran (Knoxville, Tenn./James Madison) and Marcus Torgner (Mjolby, Sweden). MacDuff and Simopoulos retain their respective captain positions from last season, while Torgner, who transferred back into the program, served as an assistant captain in 2024-25.
 
MacDuff, a junior forward, tied for the most assists on the team last season with 12 while playing in all 26 games. He also added five goals of his own for a career-high 17 points. He won 51.1 percent (142-of-279) of the faceoffs that he took last year. Over 72 career games, MacDuff has scored 14 goals and recorded 21 assists. Off the ice, MacDuff is two-time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honoree as an Electric Engineering major. Additional academic accolades for MacDuff include two William B. Wise Scholar-Athlete awards and Academic All-Conference recognition from both the New England Hockey Conference and Little East Conference.
 
Simopoulos, a junior forward, ranked third on the team in goals with nine and points with 19. As a freshman in 2024-25, he tied for the team lead in assists with nine and points with 14. A dependable scorer, Simopoulos recorded the first hat trick of his career in a 6-5 overtime win against Keene State on January 23, 2026. He has played in every game over the past two seasons and has 14 goals and 19 assists in his career. A Sport Management major, Simopoulos was named to the LEC Winter 2025-26 All-Academic Team and is a William B. Wise Scholar-Athlete.
 
Jubran, a senior defenseman, played in a career-high 21 games last season and recorded four assists. His 19 blocked shots rank second among returners for the Huskies. In his career, Jubran has a goal and four assists in 39 games. He recorded a pair of assists in a 3-0 win over WestConn on January 24, 2026 for the first multi-point game of his career. The Psychology major was named to the LEC All-Academic Team last winter and is a two-time William B. Wise Scholar-Athlete.
 
Torgner returns to Southern Maine for his senior season after spending the 2025-26 season at SUNY Geneseo, where he played in 17 games and recorded two assists. The forward totaled eight goals and 10 assists in 44 games over his first two seasons with the Huskies. Four of those goals have come on the power play. During the 2024-25 season, Torgner participated in the 2025 FISU World University Games as a member of team Sweden. A Business Management major, he was named to the 2024-25 NEHC All-Academic Team in addition to earning Krampade/American Hockey Coaches Association All-American Scholar status in 2024-25. He is also a William B. Wise Scholar-Athlete.
 
The Huskies start the regular season with a home game against Endicott College on Friday, October 30 at 7:00 pm in the USM Ice Arena.