Unlike the ECAC East and ECAC West, there was no women's division of the ECAC Northeast. Most ECAC Northeast schools did not sponsor women's ice hockey; the two that did (Nichols & Salve Regina) played in the ECAC East.
The ECAC Northeast dissolved in 2016 when
The Commonwealth Coast Conference, a Division III all-sports conference and the primary conference of most ECAC Northeast members, decided to sponsor men's ice hockey as a varsity sport.[1] Becker, Johnson and Wales, and Suffolk joined the CCC as associate members for ice hockey, while CCC member University of New England moved their men's team from the ECAC East to play in the CCC league.[1]
History
The foundation of the ECAC Northeast was laid in 1971 when
2000. In 2009 the nine schools whose primary conference was either MASCAC or Northeast-10 left when those two leagues began sponsoring ice hockey. The remaining teams stayed on for another seven years but in 2016 the Commonwealth Coast Conference
, the primary conference for seven of the nine member teams, began sponsoring ice hockey. All nine teams joined CCC as either full or associate members and the ECAC Northeast was dissolved.
ECAC Northeast Tournament
Upon its founding, ECAC 3 instituted a tournament. Originally only a single game the championship slowly expanded along with the league.
Main article:
ECAC Northeast Tournament
Members
There were nine member schools as of the conference's final season in 2015–16.
^Framingham State played in ECAC 2 from 1979 thru 1982.
^Franklin Pierce was known as 'Franklin Pierce College' until 2007.
^Massachusetts Dartmouth was known as Southeastern Massachusetts University until 1991.
^Southern Maine Suspended its program from 1975 thru 1985 and changed its name from University of Maine at Portland-Gorham in the interim.
^Southern New Hampshire was known as New Hampshire College until 2001.
^Westfield State returned to ECAC Northeast for 1 season in 2008–09.
* Assumption, Franklin Pierce, Southern New Hampshire, and Stonehill are Division II schools; and were not allowed to participate in the ECAC Northeast playoffs after 1999, nor were they eligible for the Division III national tournament.