Men’s Ice Hockey: Cadets earn LEC Team Academic Award, place 25 on Academic Honor Roll

The Norwich University men's ice hockey team added another distinction to its championship 2025-26 campaign, as the Cadets received the Little East Conference (LEC) Team Academic Award for men's ice hockey and placed 25 student-athletes on the LEC Academic Honor Roll, as announced by the league office.

The LEC Team Academic Award is presented annually to the team with the highest average cumulative grade-point average among each of the conference's 24 championship sport offerings. Norwich earned the men's ice hockey honor with a 3.77 team GPA.

The Team Academic Award capped a season in which Norwich combined success in the classroom with one of the program's strongest on-ice campaigns in recent years. In its first season as a Little East Conference member, the Cadets captured both the inaugural LEC regular season and tournament championships, returned to the NCAA Division III Tournament, and advanced to the national quarterfinal round.

Norwich finished the year with a 19-6-4 overall record and closed the season on a 9-1-3 stretch under Head Coach Dominick Dawes '04. The Cadets defeated Babson College, 4-1, inside Kreitzberg Arena to claim the first LEC Tournament title before rolling past Salve Regina University, 6-1, in the NCAA First Round. Norwich's season came to a close in a 2-1 overtime setback at eventual national champion Hamilton College in the NCAA Quarterfinals.

In addition to the Team Academic Award, 25 members of the Norwich men's ice hockey program were named to the LEC Academic Honor Roll for the Spring 2026 semester. To earn Academic Honor Roll recognition, a student-athlete must record a semester GPA of 3.00 or higher and be an active member of their team at the conclusion of the term.

Across the conference, 2,611 student-athletes were named to the Spring 2026 LEC Academic Honor Roll, including 256 from men's ice hockey. The league also recognized 438 student-athletes with a 4.00 semester GPA, 654 with at least a 3.90, 1,091 with at least a 3.75, 1,746 with at least a 3.50, and 2,110 with at least a 3.30.

Norwich's Academic Honor Roll selections included Harris Hilfiker '27, Nick Cordeiro '26, Owen Sclisizzi '27, Jed Brazo '27, Colin Elliott '27, Frank D'Ancona '29, Cooper Bertrand '27, Dave Overbeeke '28, Boyd Stahlbaum '27, Adam Shuchart '26, Devon Thibodeau '26, Cole Fagan '28, Cory Kashul '29, Joe Schubert '27, Matt Harvey '26, Jacob Gorinsky '29, Zach Ophoven '27, Niko Benjamin '29, Ocean Fancy '29, Owen Hains '29, Hayden Heinrich '27, Kyle Kudrna '28, Samuel Larsson '29, Sami Molu '27, and Ben van Waterschoot '28.

The academic recognition adds to a year filled with team and individual achievement for the Cadets. Molu was named LEC Goalie of the Year and LEC Tournament Most Valuable Player, while Bertrand earned First Team All-LEC honors before becoming the 53rd All-American in program history.

Norwich's combination of academic achievement, championship success, and national postseason performance reflected a complete season for a program that returned to conference championship form while continuing to uphold the academic standard expected of Cadet student-athletes.