Semifinal field includes outstanding players across each of the New England conferences 

BOSTON – February 5, 2026 – In what has truly been a very exciting season across DII/III college hockey, Gridiron Club of New England president Tim Whelan, Jr announced today that 36 players are semifinalists for the Silver Anniversary and25^th Joe Concannon Award, presented annually to the best American-born NCAA Division II/III hockey player in New England.

The Joe Concannon Award was established in 2001 shortly after the passing of the longtime writer for The Boston Globe, who had a great passion for the game of college hockey while always advocating strongly for amateur athletics.

Twenty-two institutions are represented in the slate of candidates that includes six players from the Little East Conference (LEC), five from the Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10), two from the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC), ten from the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and eleven from the Conference of New England (CNE). The sole independent program, Salve Regina, also has a pair of nominees this season. The list of nominees includes 27 forwards, three defensemen and six goaltenders. Babson, Endicott, Suffolk, and the University of New England have three nominees each while Assumption, Fitchburg State, Salve Regina, Tufts, and Williams each has two nominees.

The following is the complete list of semifinalists, by team, with statistics reflecting games through February 4, 2026:

Amherst College: Josh Burke, senior forward from Tampa, FL (9G – 9A – 18 points; +9)

Assumption: Jonathan Surrette, junior forward from Woburn, MA (26G – 21A – 47 points; +22); Shane McElhaney, sophomore from Swansea, MA (8G – 18A – 26 points; +12)

Babson: Jimmy Fallon, junior forward from Milton, MA (14G – 12A – 26 points; +17); Charlie Andrioli, senior defenseman from Branford, CT (8G – 9A – 17 points; +27); Nate Mueller, senior goaltender from Rogers, MN (15GP – 1.75 goals-against average – .931 save percentage)

Bowdoin: Will Rice, sophomore forward from Cambridge, MA (7G – 8A – 15 points; +9)

Colby: Colby Browne, sophomore forward from Evergreen, CO (14G – 8A – 22 points; +4)

Connecticut College: Will Lawrence, sophomore forward from Bethesda, MD (9G – 10A – 19 points; +4)

Curry: Gage Dill, senior forward from Estero, FL (11G – 12A – 23 points; +14); Jesse Galassi, senior defenseman from Lockport, NY (7G – 10A – 17 points; +14)

Endicott: Louie Kamienski, first-year forward from Elmhurst, IL (11G – 9A – 20 points +14); Sebastien Speck, first-year forward from Dryden, MI (6G – 13A – 19 points; +17); Peter Sterling, first-year goaltender from Manassas, VA (18GP – 1.62 goals-against average – .930 save percentage)

Fitchburg State: Frederick Soderberg, junior goaltender from Harrison Township, MI (15GP – 1.88 goals-against average – .943 save percentage); Devin Niles, first-year forward from Hatfield, MA (13G – 19A – 32 points; +26)

Franklin Pierce: Mario Paganini, sophomore forward from Harrison, NY (19G – 13A – 32 points; +3)

Massachusetts-Boston: Jude Kurtas, senior forward from Hillsborough, NJ (9G – 13A – 22 points; +11)

Massachusetts-Dartmouth: Tyler Stewart, senior forward from Pittsburgh, PA (12G – 17A – 29 points; -2)

Middlebury: Revy Mack, junior forward from Anchorage, AK (5G – 4A – 9 points; +11)

Norwich: Frank D’Ancona, first-year forward from Fort Myers, FL (4G – 16A – 20 points; +7)

Salve Regina: Cade DeStefani, senior forward from Bedford, NH (12G – 18A – 30 points; +18); Aidan Connolly senior forward from Marshfield, MA (9G – 12A – 21 points; +16)

St. Anselm College: Cam Collins, senior forward from Raynham, MA (5G – 17A – 22 points; +2)

St. Michael’s College: Evan Plunkett, sophomore goaltender from Charlotte, NC (17GP – 1.98 goals-against average – .946 save percentage – two shutouts)

Suffolk: Marko Giourof, sophomore from Redondo Beach, CA (13G – 13A – 26 points; +10); Nolan Leonard, sophomore forward from Braintree, MA (4G – 17A – 21 points; +11); Austin McNicholas, first-year goaltender from Clarence, NY (19GP – 2.16 goals-against average – .902 save percentage – four shutouts)

Trinity: Ryan Panico, senior forward from Southport, CT (6G – 10A – 16 points)

Tufts: Max Resnick, senior forward from Tampa, FL (8G – 9A – 17 points; +9); Ethan Ullrick, junior forward from Lakewood, IL (9G – 13A – 22 points; +6)

University of New England: Harrison Chesney, senior goaltender from Malverne, NY (19GP – 1.79 goals-against average; .921 save percentage; two shutouts); Dominic Murphy, junior forward from Worcester, MA (7G – 20A – 27 points; +12); Drew Olivieri, junior forward from Swampscott, MA (9G – 17A – 26 points; +7)

Williams: Jake McManus, sophomore forward from Winthrop, MA (8G – 14A – 22 points; +4); Brady Welsch, junior forward from Fond du Lac, WI (8G – 6A – 14 points; +11)

“This year has seen the greatest level of parity ever at the DII/III level,” said Gridiron Club Hockey Awards Committee chairman Tim Costello. “A watch-list greater than ninety players showcased a considerable number of outstanding players throughout the season to date which has made this year’s group of nominees the diverse group across the region it represents. The 36 semifinalists represent a deserving pool for consideration in this the Silver Anniversary of the Joe Concannon Award. We expect to see the strongest contenders for the award emerge over the final weeks of the regular season, conference championship tournaments and the NCAA title chase in March. The committee will be watching closely to see which players rise to the top for this year’s 25^th edition of the Concannon Award.”

The Gridiron Club will announce the finalists and winner of the 25^th Joe Concannon Award in March, following league playoffs and before the start of NCAA Division III Frozen Four on March 27-29 in Utica, NY.

                                                Past Joe Concannon Award Winners

2001        Keith Aucoin   Norwich University    2012        Jeremiah Ketts         Johnson & Wales Univ.

2002        Michael Carosi   Bowdoin College     2013        Colin Mulvey          Norwich University

2003        Nick Stauder   Salem State                  2014        Jackson Brewer       Trinity College

2004        Jim Pancyzkowski  Wesleyan             2015        Jamie Murray          Babson      

Michael O’Sullivan  Curry College          2016        Jamie Murray          Babson

2005    Brian Doherty          Curry College        2017        Brady Fleurent        Univ of New England

Joseph Ori          Trinity College            2018        Colin Larkin            Massachusetts-Boston

2006        Adam Dann         Bowdoin College     2019        Brady Fleurent        Univ of New England

2007        Greg Osborne    Colby College           2020        Walker Harris         Wesleyan University

2008        Tom Maldonado  Middlebury              2021        Canceled for COVID

2009        Jeff Landers        Amherst College       2022        Ryan Black              Babson

2010        Coleman Noonan St. Anselm College                   Conor O’Brien        Endicott College

2011        Josh Harris         Castleton State           2023        Myles Abbate          Plymouth State

                                                                               2024        Devon Bobak          Trinity College

                                                                               2025        Shane Soderwall     Curry College

The Joe Concannon Award

The Gridiron Club established the Joe Concannon Award in 2001 to honor Joe, a lifelong devotee of college hockey, former member of the Walter Brown Award Selection Committee and, as a journalist, a staunch advocate for the amateur athletes he knew and covered. A native of Litchfield, Connecticut, Joe graduated from Boston University in 1961. He served as sports information director (SID) at Holy Cross before joining the Boston Globe in the late 1960’s to cover college sports.  Joe declined frequent invitations by his editors to write about Boston’s major professional sports teams, preferring to concentrate on the colleges, distance running and golf. He authored the book Marathoning with Bill Rodgers and established the highly successful Litchfield Road Race in his hometown. Joe was a world traveler and was especially proud of his Irish heritage, frequently sojourning to the Emerald Isle. He passed away in 2000.

2026 Gridiron Club Hockey Awards Selection Committee and Advisory Board: Tim Costello, Chairperson; Tom Burke, Jim Connelly, Dick DeCaprio, Tim Flynn, John Gravallese, David Lezenski, Paul McNamara, John Powers, William J. Stewart III, and Dick Umile.

Press Contacts: Tim Costello, Committee Chairperson  Phone: 732-425-5922 tim.costello@ymail.com     

Tom Burke, Communications Director   Phone: 617-323-5694             tomburke99@aol.com