Westfield, Mass.— The reigning 2018-19 MASCAC Men’s Ice Hockey regular season and tournament champion Plymouth State has been chosen to repeat the 2019-20 MASCAC Men’s Ice Hockey Championship by the seven coaches from around the league.

The Panthers earned five of the seven first place votes for 34 points. They finished last season 12-4-2 in the league. Returning to the ice is All-Conference defenseman Victor Bergstrom who netted nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points while leading all defenseman in the conference in scoring. 

Earning the final two first place votes for 29 points is UMass Dartmouth. The Corsairs were 10-6-2 during the MASCAC campaign last season. Returning for his senior season is Steven Leonard who scored 14 goals and assisted on 15 more for 29 points. He finished the season tied for third in goal scoring and tied for fourth in power play goals with seven. 

Landing in third with 25 points is Westfield State. The Owls were 11-6-1 at the end of league action in 2018-19. Reigning MASCAC Rookie of the Year Jake Ratcliffe looks to repeat his success from his freshman season. Last year, he collected 22 points on 12 goals and 10 assists which put him atop the leaderboard among freshman in the conference. Joining him in goals is Thierry Messervier who was second in the league in save percentage (.920) and third in winning percentage (.620) to earn All-Conference accolades.
 

Salem State is fourth with 20 points. The Vikings had seven wins during the conference slate last season. In his first year with the team, Ryan Tierney led the squad with 19 points on five goals and 14 assists which was second in the conference among freshman. 

Sitting in fifth with 19 points is Fitchburg State who was 9-7-2 last season at the end of the MASCAC schedule. Returning for the Falcons in goal is Brian McGrath who earned a spot on the All-Conference squad after leading the MASCAC in save percentage (.938) and GAA (2.26).  

Rounding out the 2019-20 preseason poll are Worcester State and Framingham State in sixth and seventh, respectively. The Lancers were 9-7-2 and collected 14 points in this year’s poll. Matthew Manning returns to the team after scoring 12 goals with 19 assists for 31 points last season. The Rams received six points and bring back Ryan Paul who led the team in points with 14 on six goals and eight assists. 
 

All the MASCAC teams are in action with this weekend with their non-conference contests. Follow all of the games at mascac.com.