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BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Drew Olivieri tipped home the deciding goal with 46.4 seconds on the board to lift the No.6 University of New England men's ice hockey team over Nichols College, 3-2, in the Conference of New England (CNE) finale at the Harold Alfond Forum on Saturday night (Feb. 21).

The Nor'easters (20-5-0, 17-3-0 CNE) needed just one point from the contest to earn an outright CNE regular-season title, and it looked for a moment late like only one might have been a real possibility. The Bison (10-14-1, 7-12-1) received a goal at the 8:08 mark from Zach Vandale, and then, with an extra attacker, CJ Zezima knotted the score with 1:17 to play.

However, an icing off of the ensuing faceoff pinned Nichols back in its zone, and, after another quick icing, UNE kept it in the offensive end. From a cluster in the corner emerged Nathan Chickering, who carried into the middle before getting dumped to the ice at the top of the crease. The puck slid out to Kevin O'Keefe, who whipped it back towards the cage just as Olivieri ducked behind a defender to get his stick in the path and redirect it over the goalie for his team-leading 14th tally [Watch].

A blocked shot by Brayden Cook was then all it took for the Nor'easters to put the game away and celebrate the program's third regular-season crown (2019-20 shared, 2021-22 outright) around netminder Harrison Chesney. The result also got UNE to the 20-win plateau for the fifth time in the last eight full seasons, and secured the fourth double-digit winning streak in school history. Big Blue owns the second-longest active run of consecutive wins in the country, behind only Hobart College (31). 

With first-place now locked up, UNE gets a bye into next Saturday's (Feb. 28) semifinals of the 2026 CNE Championship and will host the winner between No.4 Curry College and the fifth-seeded Bison.

Earlier in the evening, the Nor'easters moved in front at 18:10 of the 1st period on a near-side-high snap from Dominic Murphy. After a nice steal in the neutral zone, Seth Murch centered it to Chickering, who fed it left to Murphy for his second goal in as many outings [Watch].

Nichols out-shot UNE in the 2nd, thanks, in large part, to three power play chances that amounted to seven shots on target. Nick Anderson also entered the match between the pipes for the visitors and made a few key stops to hold the margin at one.

The hosts finally found some breathing room at 7:25 in the 3rd, as Nick Marino gained possession at his own blue line and bounced the puck off the wall to a streaking Ryan Hadland up the right wing. Hadland chased it into the zone and had a step on a converging defender so the he could slot his eighth goal inside the far post [Watch].

Chesney -- the senior transfer who has logged more than 92 percent of the team's minutes -- wound up with 21 saves and booked his 19th victory, which now ranks fifth on UNE's career goaltending list.

Chickering's team-best two points makes for 25 on the campaign, following only Olivieri and Murphy (both 35). He has at least one point in 13 of the last 15 games since the calendar turned to 2026, adding up to a squad-high 19.

The Nor'easters cleared another four penalties from the scoreboard in the contest, as the Division III-best penalty kill unit improved to 90-for-91. The NCAA single-season record for penalty kill percentage was established by Hobart in 2023-24 (96.8%).

For Nichols, Anderson collected 25 saves over the final 40 minutes, backing up Ryan Henry's 11 through the opening 20. The pair, along with Laim Choquette, limited the nation's eighth-rated scoring offense (4.29) to seven total goals against in three meetings during the year.
 

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Aidan Curran, Juraj Elias, Chip Hamlett, Jacob Pellerin, Jayden Price, Noah Szretter, Mike Tersoni, David Wilcox