Rivier women's hockey players have a lot to celebrate this holiday break with the news the team will be joining a newly created MASCAC for the sport next season. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – The Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) announced the addition of women’s ice hockey in a release on Wednesday morning, with play set to begin in the 2024-25 season.

Rivier will be one of the founding members, along with Framingham State, MCLA, Worcester State, and Anna Maria. In the following season, Salem State will join as a full member as the programs begin a two-season wait period for an NCAA Automatic Qualifier, which is set to start in the 2027-28 campaign.

The Raiders currently participate as members of the Eastern Collegiate Hockey Alliance (ECHA), along with Anna Maria, MCLA, and Worcester State. Meanwhile, this move completes the efforts to get both hockey programs into a conference, as the Raider men’s program, the school announced this past summer, will join the MASCAC beginning next season.

“This is an exciting day for Rivier University women’s hockey,” said Raiders head coach Chris Czarnota. “Becoming a member of the MASCAC will positively impact all aspects of the collegiate experience and will heighten our team’s profile on a national level.”

The conference’s addition of women’s ice hockey increases its sport sponsorship total to 19 as it becomes the newest hockey conference to join the NCAA. The MASCAC joins the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA), New England Hockey Conference (NEHC), New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC), United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) and Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) as the ninth conference to sponsor the sport.

“We want to thank everyone involved who has helped us get to this important moment,” continued Czarnota. “Joining the MASCAC is a historic milestone and the start of a new chapter for Rivier University women’s hockey.”

(Telegraph staff writer Tom King contributed to this report.)

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