Stonehill Women's Ice Hockey Begins 2026 Campaign

By Alex Guia

The Stonehill women’s ice hockey team has opened their 2026–27 campaign, facing off against Syracuse and Boston College before starting NEWHA conference play. 

The team was selected to finish fourth in the 2026-27 New England Women's Hockey Alliance (NEWHA) Preseason Poll by the league's head coaches. It's the fourth consecutive season they've been projected for a top four finish. 

That matches the team's finish last season when they came in fourth in the NEWHA standings with an overall record of 18–17–2. 

The Stonehill women's ice hockey team plays at Bridgewater Ice Arena. Tickets are priced at $20 before taxes and can be purchased on the Stonehill women’s ice hockey website on their tickets page.

Head Coach Lee-J Mirasolo returns for her fourth year and returns 12 players. The returning students include seniors Peyton Wise and Makenna Slocum, juniors Reagan Whynot, Seina Spadone, Alexsa Caron, and sophomores Summer Combe, Payton Palsa, Bella Sacca, Maddie Bibeau, Masyn Mullen, Nicole Schumm, and Kyanna Micthell. 

The 2026 squad welcomes eleven freshmen, including members Reese Combe, Fiona Waddick, Brooke Harb, Julie Morrison, Alex Mitsakis, Ella Nonweiler, Mackenzie Sutherland, Julia Lambert, Jamie Noonan, Maria Duffer, and Spencer Vaccari. 

The Skyhawks will look to sophomore Summer Combe, who finished the 2025-26 campaign tied second on the team with 10 goals, second to then-senior Maddie Achtyl, who scored 18 times.

Captains Senior Makenna Slocum and Junior Alexsa Caron will lead as captains this season while Peyton Wise rounds out the team's leadership as assistant captain.

Slocum has appeared in 114 games in her previous three years at Stonehill, totaling 20 points on 11 goals and 9 assists. 12 of those points came from seven goals and five assists during her junior season.

Caron makes program history in becoming the first goaltender on the team's leadership council. She currently ranks second in the program's record books with six shutouts and is nearing the programs' all-time record of 1,767 career saves.

Senior Assistant Captain Peyton Wise finished her 2025-26 season with 13 points on 5 goals and 8 assists. She has appeared on the ice in 114 games, totaling 32 career points on 13 goals and 9 assists.

The beginning of the 2026-27 season has been challenging for the Skyhawks. The season opened with the Skyhawks facing Syracuse twice. They ended with the Skyhawks trailing by a trio of goals. They later played Boston College and lost 17-0.

The Skyhawks will look to rebound when they face Saint Michaels in their NEWHA opener. Puck drops at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9 in South Burlington, VT.

The Skyhawks will look to continue their strong statistics from last year. Last year, the team recorded 159 saves. This keeps the Skyhawks competitive, and all penalties are shown as minor.

They also maintain 0 game misconducts or match misconducts, which is great because there are no disciplinary issues. The team is also getting power play opportunities. This helps create a strategy where the player is able to improve their power-play and score more goals. The team shows great skill by their large number of saves and their strong penalty kill. These make for great strengths going into the new season.

As the season progresses, there will be several things to watch out for from the Skyhawks. One will be whether Stonehill can improve its offensive production after being shut out by Boston College. Another is the performance of the team under players such as Combe, Slocum, Caron, and Wise.

While the Skyhawks have faced a difficult start to the 2026-27 campaign, it is only the beginning for what has been proven to be a strong program. With the experienced coaches, new freshmen, and the contributing leaders on the ice, Stonehill has opportunities for improvement and to become a stronger team as they move deeper into the season. The next few games will show whether Stonehill’s team can overcome their difficult start and create another prosperous season.