By: Norwich University Athletics

NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Norwich University men's ice hockey team has earned an automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship and will travel to face Salve Regina University in a First Round matchup on Saturday, Mar. 14, at 7:00 p.m. inside Howard Rink in Newport, R.I.

The winner of Saturday's contest will advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals on Saturday, Mar. 21, and face the winner of the First Round game between Hamilton College and Neumann University, which is also scheduled for Mar. 14 at Hamilton.

Norwich secured its place in the national field by capturing the inaugural Little East Conference championship on Saturday, Mar. 7, defeating No. 12 Babson College, 4-1, in front of a packed Kreitzberg Arena.  The victory marked the program's first conference title since the 2019-20 season and clinched the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament.

The Cadets enter postseason play with an 18-5-4 overall record, including a 13-2-3 mark in conference action, and finished the regular season ranked 15th nationally in the NCAA Power Index (NPI).

Several Cadets played pivotal roles in the championship victory over Babson.  Nick Cordeiro (Mississauga, Ont.), Zach Ophoven (Burlington, Ont.), and Cooper Bertrand (Caledon, Ont.) each recorded multi-point performances, while Tournament Most Valuable Player Sami Molu (Toronto, Ont.) delivered a standout effort between the pipes.  The Norwich goaltender made 31 saves in the championship game and stopped 61 of 62 shots across both LEC Tournament contests.

Cordeiro opened the scoring midway through the first period before Ophoven extended the lead late in the frame.  After Babson cut the deficit to one in the second period, Niko Benjamin (Surprise, Ariz.) restored the two-goal advantage with a breakaway tally in the third.  Bertrand later sealed the victory with an empty-net goal, igniting a championship celebration inside Kreitzberg Arena.

Salve Regina enters the NCAA Tournament with a 20-4-0 overall record as an independent program and will return to the ice for the first time since an 8-1 victory over Franklin Pierce on Feb. 10.

Saturday's matchup will mark a reunion between two familiar programs.  Norwich and Salve Regina were conference opponents in the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) last season before the league disbanded.  The teams met twice in Kreitzberg Arena during the 2024-25 campaign, splitting the season series in mid-February.

The winner of the Norwich-Salve Regina contest will advance to face the Hamilton/Neumann winner in the NCAA Quarterfinal round.

The NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship semifinals will be held on Thursday, Mar. 27, at Utica University in Utica, New York, with the national championship game scheduled for Saturday, Mar. 29.

Additional information regarding tickets, live video, and game day coverage for Norwich's NCAA Tournament appearance will be announced when available.