SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Curry Hockey team has been selected fifth in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Preseason Coaches' Poll, as announced by the league on Wednesday afternoon.

Curry enters the 2017-18 campaign coming off a 14-10-2 overall record, including an 11-5-2 mark the inaugural season of CCC Hockey. They earned a trip to the CCC Tournament as the No. 4 seed, earning a first round home game. This year's squad will turn to their senior captains: Phil Kiss (Burlington, Ontario), Shane Tracy (Bow, N.H.), Ryan Fitzgerald (Cary, N.C.), Jarret Kup (Rousseau, Ontario) and Adam Valadao (Ajax, Ontario) for leadership on and off the ice. Junior defenseman, Mack Heisinger (Winnipeg, Manitoba) will be looked at to continue his progression as a player.  Curry will also look to have positive years offensively from Tracy, Valadao and junior Zach White (Milford, Conn.). Head coach T.J. Manastersky is also excited to see how his freshmen class can adapt and make an impact on the team.

The Gulls earned 99 points and nine of a possible 10 first place votes in this year's preseason coaches' poll, which was completed last week by the league's 10 men's ice hockey head coaches.

The University of New England, last year's CCC Tournament runner-up, was picked second in the poll. The Nor'easters, which advanced to the CCC Championship as the No. 5 seed, gathered 85 points in the poll.

Salve Regina, which had an early exit in last year's CCC Tournament as the No. 3 seed, will come into this year slotted in the No. 3 spot. The Seahawks received 78 points and the only remaining first place vote.

Nichols and Curry landed in the fourth and fifth spots, respectively, with the Bison earning 74 points and the Colonels receiving 55.

Wentworth and Johnson and Wales tied for the sixth spot in the poll with 35 points apiece, while Western New England (32 points), Suffolk (30), and Becker (27) rounded out the table.

The Colonels open the 2017-2018 season on Fri. October 27 at home against UMass. Dartmouth at 6:50 p.m.

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