(October 24, 2006) - Saint Anselm College has been voted the top team in the ECAC Women's East Ice Hockey League 2007-08 preseason poll, with 143 total and 11 first place votes. The Hawks will look to repeat as ECAC Women's East regular season champions, coming off a year where they posted an 18-1-0 conference mark (24-3-0 overall).

Saint Anselm will remain solid in between the pipes with the tandem of Jen Taylor (Canandaigua, N.Y./Rochester Edge) and Andrea Berlin (Durham, N.H./Oyster River) returning to crease. Taylor led all Women's East goaltenders with a slim 0.67 GAA, while Berlin recorded a 1.35 GAA last season. The Hawks will also return many components of an offense that ranked number one in league scoring last season with an average of 5.07 goals per game.

Behind Saint Anselm in the number two spot is Manhattanville College. The Valiants will vie for their seventh straight ECAC Women's East Tournament Championship. Last year Manhattanville skated to a 19-8-1 record (15-4-0 league), earning a spot in the Division III Women's NCAA Ice Hockey Tournament.

The third spot belongs to the College of The Holy Cross. The Crusaders finished the 2006-07 campaign with a record of 15-10-2 overall, and 11-7-1 in the league. Stephanie Couzin (Chicago, Ill. /Loyola Academy) returns to the lineup after leading the Crusaders offensively with 42 points (24-18-42) a year ago.

UMass Boston has been voted into the fourth slot. The Beacons advanced to the Women's East Semifinals a year ago, posting a record of 10-9-0 in conference play (14-12-1 overall).

Finishing just behind the Beacons is New England College; the Pilgrims will look to improve upon a solid 12-6-1 league record from last season.

Southern Maine was voted into the sixth slot, after a 2006-07 campaign where they went 8-17-1 (6-13-0 league), Salve Regina follows in seventh place after posting a 5-14-0 league mark (7 17-1 overall).

The coaches voted Saint Michael's to finish eighth, with league newcomer Norwich University finishing ninth and Castleton State College finishing tenth to round out the top ten. Massachusetts Institute of Technology landed in the eleventh spot. In their inaugural season as a member of the ECAC Women's East, the Panthers of Plymouth State have been picked to finish twelfth by the coaches. The ECAC Women's East League will be settled on the ice starting Saturday, November 2 at 6:00 p.m. when the Beacons of UMass Boston travel to take on the Salve Regina Seahawks.

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