WATERBURY, Conn. -- Only three days away from the start of their 2025-26 campaign kicking off, Post University Women's Ice Hockey was picked to finish seventh in the New England Women's Hockey Alliance Preseason Poll released by the organization on Wednesday afternoon. Last year's NEWHA Championship teams in Sacred Heart University and LIU were picked to finish one and two, with the defending champion Pioneers leading the way with 47 points and five first-place votes, followed by the Sharks with 44 points and three first-place votes.

Stonehill College came in behind those two in third with 37 points before a tight race from fourth to seventh saw Franklin Pierce University in fourth with 27 points, Saint Anselm College in fifth with 23 points, Assumption University in sixth with 22 points, the Eagles with 16 points in seventh, and Saint Michael's College in last with eight points.

Post will have to look for offense from some new faces this season as the graduation of Julia Wysocki, who led the team with 18 goals, and the transfer of Rowyn Ringor, who had 10 goals, accounted for 28 of the 62 goals the Eagles scored last season. Wysocki and Ringor also combined for 27 assists and 53 points, anchoring their line along with now junior forward Celena Mickevicius, who had three goals. Junior forward Noa Farberman, who had the third-most goals on the team with six, is back, along with seven other goal scorers from last season. 

Between the pipes, things look to be the same for the Eagles as senior goalie Hannah Saunders enters her final season with Post after a record-breaking year that saw her earn two NEWHA Goalie of the Week honors, four NEWHA Weekly Honor Rolls, a spot on the Women's Hockey Commissioners Association Goalie of the Year Watch List, TSR NEWHA Goalie of the Month Honor Roll, and the outright award another month, NEWHA All-Conference First Team, NEWHA Goalie of the Year, and NEWHA All-Sportswomanship Team. Saunders also set numerous program records along the way as part of an 11-15-3 campaign with eight shutout wins, a 1.79 goals-against average, and a .943 save percentage. 

Nine new freshmen enter the fold for first-year Head Coach Brandon Brown's team after he replaced Head Coach Pat Bingham earlier this year, in Anna Brannare, Callie Peterson, Georgia Stevens, Lily Zohner, Kai Hyatt, Peyton Tully, Alexia Tutino, Tallulah Cameron, and Alex Young, along with transfer junior Emma Hoen from Lindenwood. 

The season kicks off for Post University this Saturday with a two-game set against the University of St. Thomas, starting at 2:45 PM and then 12:00 PM on Sunday at the Sports Center of Connecticut in Shelton, Connecticut.