RYE, N.Y. – With opening puck drop looming 10 days away, the Manhattanville University men's hockey team has been voted No. 6 in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) Men's Preseason Poll, the conference unveiled on Tuesday.

The Valiants received 27 total points in the voting as the UCHC enters a second-straight year with brand new faces entering the conference. The UCHC welcomes Elmira back into the fold after previously departing the conference after the 2020-21 campaign, while Albertus Magnus and St. John Fisher enter the foray to bring the UCHC's team total up to nine alongside Manhattanville, Geneseo, Utica, Chatham, Nazareth and Brockport.

Manhattanville will be seeking its sixth-straight UCHC Championship Tournament appearance this season after making a run to the semis in 2024-25. The Valiants finished last season in third in the conference standings, earning a first round home playoff game where Manhattanville defeated No. 6 SUNY Brockport 4-1 before falling to eventual champs Geneseo in the semis.

The Valiants will be returning 22 members of last year's team, including all three of the teams' All-Conference selections. Fresh off being named the UCHC's Co-Goaltender of the Year a season ago, William Billequey (Montreal, Quebec/Vermont Lumberjacks (EHL)) returns to man the crease for Manhattanville for his junior season. Billequey sported a .930 save percentage with a 2.56 goals-against average last year as the Valiants' leading netminder and will figure to once again be the main man between the pipes.

Also making their returns are Second Team All-UCHC selections Nicholas Rogers (Broad Channel, N.Y./Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks (NA3HL)) and Corey Popowcer (Parkland, Fla./Vermont Lumberjacks (EHL)). Rogers was one of the best scorers in the country last year, ranking ninth in the NCAA with 0.67 goals per game as his 18 goals was the seventh-highest single-season total in program history. Popowcer was a leading playmaker in the defensive zone last season, the only member of the backline to play all 27 games while adding 18 points on five goals and 13 assists.

The Valiants will look to replace the production of Artem Mateichenko (Kharkov, Ukraine/New Hampshire Avalanche (EHL)), who graduated last year as Manhattanville's career leader in assists with 80 after 19 more helpers his senior season. Manhattanville returns three players—Popowcer, Johno Hoins (Telluride, Colo./The Frederick Gunn School / Notre Dame Hounds (SJHL)) and Lane Paddison (100 Mile House, Canada/Canmore Eagles (AJHL))—that finished tied for second behind Mateichenko with 13 assists apiece last year who will all look to pick up where they left off last season.

Reigning conference champs SUNY Geneseo earned the top spot in the conference poll with 61 total points and five first place votes to edge out Utica by a single point, with the Pioneers nabbing the other four first place votes. The rest of the 2025-26 UCHC Men's Preseason Poll can be found below:

2025-26 UCHC Men's Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. SUNY Geneseo – 61 Points (5 First Place Votes)
2. Utica University – 60 Points (4 First Place Vote)
3. Chatham University – 48 Points
4. Elmira College – 41 Points
5. Albertus Magnus College – 40 Points
6. Manhattanville University – 27 Points
7. Nazareth University – 19 Points
8. SUNY Brockport – 17 Points
9. St. John Fisher University – 11 Points
 
The Valiants open the new season on Friday, Oct. 31 on the road at Wilkes University. Manhattanville takes to the home ice at Playland Ice Casino on Nov. 7 against Cortland at 7 p.m. ahead of a Saturday afternoon tilt against Salve Regina the following day at 2 p.m.

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