Statistics
Photo Gallery

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Drew Olivieri pumped in four goals on four shot attempts to fuel No.1 seed University of New England as the Nor'easters demolished No.5 seed Nichols College, 10-0, in the semifinals of the 2026 Conference of New England Men's Ice Hockey Championship at the Harold Alfond Forum on Saturday night (Feb. 28).

UNE (21-5-0) -- which is ranked sixth in the latest USCHO.com national poll, and rated fourth in the most recent NCAA Power Index -- moves forward to entertain No.2 seed Endicott College (seventh USCHO, third NPI) in the tournament final next Saturday at 7 p.m. The Gull struck three times in the third period to separate from No.3 seed Suffolk University to advance. [CNE Championship Page]

Winners of now 11 straight, the Nor'easters only scored once during the initial period, but it was quick enough that it put the hosts comfortably on the front foot. Dominic Murphy tapped in a backhand at the left post with 1:29 elapsed, after a distance shot from Noah Szretter was saved by Bison starting goalie Ryan Henry. Olivieri began his evening with a secondary assist on the play, and Murphy became the fourth UNE skater to reach double digits in goals this season.

The goals started flowing in the 2nd, as Aidan Curran (2:17) and Kevin O'Keefe (9:24) each notched their third scores of the season to pad the cushion, and then Olivieri made it 5-0 with tallies at 12:00 and 14:31. Five more found their way through in the 3rd, with Ryan Hadland (0:41), Olivieri (3:50), Juraj Elias (5:16), Olivieri (6:20), and Ike Keller (13:38).

The 10 goals were one off the program all-time game record, and matched the conference championship record that was set by Endicott back in a 2018 quarterfinal.

Olivieri's five points is believed to be a conference championship record (definitely a UNE record, in the 19 postseason games over 9 years), and the four goals ties for the top league mark, joining Endicott's Cass Bowes from a 2023 semifinal. The junior forward equaled the UNE game record for goals with the effort, as four others accomplished the feat between 2014 and 2016. Olivieri now leads the Nor'easters with 18 goals and 40 points on the campaign, which includes four previous multi-goal outings. The hat trick was the team's first of the year, and was completed in the second-fastest time (first-to-third, 11:50) out of the 24 in school records.

Harrison Chesney logged 15 stops to secure the first UNE shutout in a conference postseason game. It was also the fifth time Chesney blanked an opponent this year, which is a new program season mark.

Murphy -- who came into the night with the third-best assists per game rate in Division III (1.08), and 10th-best in points (1.46) -- added a trio of helpers to wind up with his first four-point performance of the year. Nathan Chickering had three assists, as well, while Elias contributed a pair for another three-point evening (1g, 2a).

Nick Marino and Fernand-Olivier Perron had two assists apiece, and O'Keefe made it seven players with at least two points (1g, 1a). Like Szretter, Mike Tersoni, Cam Bergeman, and David Wilcox each supplied primary assists. Chip Hamlett, who had a couple of blocked shots, was on the ice for five of the even-strength scores (+5) -- the same as Murphy, leading the squad.

Special teams was a rather small but still very important factor in the result. The Nor'easters cashed in on both of their power-play opportunities, and killed off their only penalty. It was the third time that UNE was sent to the box just once, and, by clearing it from the board, the nation's leading PK unit has erased 37 penalties in-a-row to improve to 91-for-92 overall.

For the first time in four contests between the teams this year, Nichols (11-15-1) could not tame the Nor'easter attack. While UNE certainly controlled chances each time out, the previous score lines were only 2-0, 2-1, and 3-2 (last weekend). Henry made 21 stops in 32 minutes of work on Saturday before things started to slip away, and the two backups combined to yield six goals on 12 shots the rest of the way.

Next Saturday will be UNE's fifth appearance in the conference title game, having previously dropped it in 2017 (against Endicott, with 8.7 seconds left) and 2018, before winning it in 2019 and 2022 (against Endicott, in OT). The Gulls knocked the Nor'easters out of the running in the semifinal round in both 2024 and 2025 (both in OT). UNE and EC each took one meeting on home ice during the 2025-26 regular season; UNE's last setback was to Endicott on January 16, but then kicked off its current streak the next day versus the Gulls.