BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – The LIU women's ice hockey team has been voted by the league's coaches as the preseason favorite in advance of the 2021-22 women's ice hockey season, according to the New England Women's Hockey Alliance's Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
Debuting as a varsity program prior to the 2018-19 season, LIU earned the maximum five first-place votes to record top honors in the Preseason Coaches' Poll for the first time. The Sharks are followed by second-place Sacred Heart University, who received one first-place vote, and third-ranked Franklin Pierce University.
 
Saint Anselm College, Saint Michael's College and Post University round out the six-team poll in fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
 
In the team's very first season of varsity competition in 2019-20, LIU won its first NEWHA postseason championship by defeating Saint Anselm by a 1-0 margin. Last season, the Sharks edged Sacred Heart for the NEWHA Commissioners' Cup, held in lieu of a traditional postseason in 2021.
 
Led by head coach Rob Morgan, the Sharks competed in a 13-game schedule this past January, February and March after claiming their NEWHA postseason title in 2020 following a 14-win campaign. LIU opens its 2021-22 season on Friday, Sept. 24, battling the University of Connecticut at the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum.
 
Sacred Heart played 11 games during its shortened 2020-21 season, the team's 17th under long-time Head Coach Tom O'Malley. Most recently, in 2019-20, the Pioneers rattled off a 21-11 overall record that included a NEWHA Regular Season Championship following a dominant mark of 18-2 in league play.
 
Franklin Pierce matched Sacred Heart with a 21-11 record in 2019-20, falling to Saint Anselm in the longest NCAA women's ice hockey game in history played in the NEWHA semifinals on Feb. 22, 2020. Led by Head Coach David Stockdale, the Ravens have compiled a 43-21-1 record (.669) record since the start of the 2018-19 season.
 
Saint Anselm, the preseason favorite in the most recent Preseason Coaches' Poll in 2019-20, enters the season with a new leader behind the bench in Jen Kindret. Saint Michael's enters its 22nd season under the leadership of Chris Donovan while Post, who debuted as a varsity program in 2016-17, is guided by sixth-year Head Coach Heath Isaacson.
 
2021-22 NEWHA Preseason Coaches' Poll
 
RANK   TEAM                     POINTS (FIRST PLACE VOTES)
1.         LIU                          25 pts. (5)
2.         Sacred Heart         19 pts. (1)
3.         Franklin Pierce      18 pts.
4.         Saint Anselm         14 pts.
5.         Saint Michael's      9 pts.
6.         Post                         5 pts.