BEVERLY, Mass. - The 2026 Conference of New England (CNE) football season is ready to kick off as teams across the league return to the gridiron with their sights set on the conference crown. Endicott College enters the fall looking to build on a 2025 campaign that saw the Gulls capture the CNE regular-season championship, while teams throughout the conference prepare to make their own push toward the top. With a new season ahead, another exciting race for the CNE title is set to begin.

Curry College
2026 Schedule | 2026 Roster (returners: TBD | graduated: TBD | newcomers: TBD)
2026 Results (8-3, 6-1 CNE) | 2025 Overall Stats | 2025 Postseason Finish: 2nd place, Fusion Bowl
 
The Curry College football team will enter a new era, as record breaking running back Montie Quinn has graduated, and the team will look for a new source of offense. They will look towards junior Jordan Depina to fill some of that void. The running back enters the year with 381 rushing yards on 58 carries, but averaged 9.0 yards per carry in limited action last year as Quinn’s backup. Depina is also a threat in the return game, having been named to the conference’s first team last year as a utility player.
 
The Colonels did keep their top three receivers from last year in Wesley Williams, Colin Ridley, and Kareem Chaplin II. They combined for over 1,200 receiving yards last year, and will look to do even more damage this year. Williams and Ridley were both named to the CNE’s second team last year.
 
Defensively, the Colonels return two CNE second-teamers in Lucas Leander and Shane Field. Leander led the team with three interceptions last year, while Field led the team with 58 tackles.
 
The Colonels will open the season up at Bridgewater State on September 5th.
 
Husson University
2026 Schedule | 2026 Roster (returners: 61 | graduated: 17 | newcomers: 57)
2026 Results (4-6, 3-4 CNE) | 2025 Overall Stats | 2025 Postseason Finish: 5th Place CNE
 
Husson University is looking to improve from last year’s campaign and will be looking to replace some key pieces on both sides of the ball. The Eagles graduated numerous All-Conference honorees, but return All-Conference Second Team selection linebacker JT Wright who finished with a team-high 84 tackles, which was good for second in the CNE, including a league-high 56 assisted tackles. Additionally, Husson brings back two-time All-Conference defensive back Brayden Trombly, who earned a third team nod last season after earning conference rookie of the year in 2024. Offensively, the Eagles return two of their top pass catchers from last year in Jacob Lenz and Caden Crocker and bring back experienced pieces from last year’s squad on both the offensive and defensive lines, while Brody Gibson will take over under center after the graduation of All-Conference Second Team quarterback Max Clark. Overall, Husson will look to a class of roughly 55 incoming players to bring new energy on both sides of the ball and a group of just over 60 returning players to show them the ropes. Husson opens its 2026 schedule with back-to-back home contests against two defending conference champions from a season ago, as it welcomes Framingham State University to the Winkin Complex on Sept. 5, before the reigning New England Men’s and Women’s Athletic Conference winners Springfield College make the trip to Bangor the following weekend.
 
Endicott College
2026 Schedule | 2026 Roster (returners: 85 | graduated: 27 | newcomers: 49)
2026 Results (9-2, 7-0 CNE) | 2025 Overall Stats | 2025 Postseason Finish: CNE Champions, NCAA Tournament Second Round
 
Endicott will look to win its sixth straight conference championship this fall. The Gulls' championship quest will be led by captains Brian Daly, Shane Fitzgerald, Caleb Luz, Shea Lynch, Vincent Insinga, and Jacob Ward. Returning 14 All-Conference selections including first teamers, Markys Bridgewater, Daly, Insinga, Sean King, Luz, Shea Lynch, and Ward. In addition, Bryan Ferreira, the Inaugural Associated Press Division III Rookie of the Year, will headline the backfield. The Blue and Green enter the 2026 campaign ranked No. 24 in both the AFCA and D3football.com polls. The Gulls will play two other teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season in Eastern and Muhlenberg to start the season.

Maine Maritime Academy
2026 Schedule | 2026 Roster (Returners: 19 | Graduated: 0 | Newcomers: 28)
2025 Results (0-10, 0-7 CNE) | 2025 Statistics | 2025 Postseason Finish: N/A

The Maine Maritime Academy football team enters year two in the Conference of New England under head coach Nick Sheehan. The program brought in a talented coaching staff with the additions of Aaron Kelton (Defensive Coordinator), Paul Boudrea (Special Teams Coordinator – Wide Receivers Coach), Dom Bourne (Defensive Line Coach) and Will Hannum (Tight Ends/Runnings Backs) along with the return of Joe O’Rourke (Offensive Coordinator – Offensive Line Coach) and Josh Ladipo (Linebackers Coach).

The Mariners return 19 from their 2025 roster including junior running back Auston Harris who earned CNE All-Conference second team honors last season after becoming the first running back in over a decade to surpass 1,000 yards on the season. Additionally, Maine Maritime returns first team all-conference defensive back Lucas Houghton who led the CNE with 102 tackles last season.
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Maine Maritime opens its season on the road in the Admiral’s Cup at Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Sept. 5 before traveling to Vermont State University Castleton on Sept. 19 and hosting Curry College on Sept. 26 for homecoming.
 
New England College
2026 Schedule | 2026 Roster (Returners: 35 | Graduated: 2 | Newcomers: 45)
2025 Results (1-9, 1-6 CNE) | 2025 Statistics | 2025 Postseason Finish: N/A
 
The New England College football team enters year two in the Conference of New England after the Pilgrims’ officially made their return to the gridiron last season. The program picked up its first victory in over 70 years under head coach Kevin Kelly, and will look to continue building off that momentum as they retake the field in 2026.
 
The ‘Grims bring back a class of 35 returners, all now equipped with a year of CNE play under their belts. Junior linebacker and captain Ethan Cenesca leads the way after earning First Team All-Conference honors a year ago with 78.0 tackles and 10.0 tackles-for-loss. Senior captain Kaevryel Madison returns to command the secondary after joining Cenesca in the top-10 in tackles per-game last season. Junior captains Conrado Lago and Austin Normandin are set to lead the Pilgrims as two of the team’s top pass catchers, while the backfield will look different following the graduation of last season’s top two rushers, Aidan McDonald and Icean Taylor.
 
NEC opens the season on Saturday, September 5th, on the road against Plymouth State University. The team travels to MIT a week later before returning home to host Fitchburg State on Saturday, September 19th.
 
Nichols College
2026 Schedule | 2026 Roster (Returners: 42 | Graduated: 21 | Newcomers: 71)
2025 Results (2-8, 2-5 CNE) | 2025 Statistics | 2025 Postseason Finish: 6th Place

The Nichols College football program enters the 2026 season looking to take another step forward under third-year head coach Vinny Marino and build on the foundation established during his first two seasons.
The Bison went 2-8 overall and 2-5 in Conference of New England (CNE) play in 2025, earning conference victories over New England College and Maine Maritime Academy. Nichols returns 42 student-athletes while welcoming a sizeable 71-man recruiting class.

Offensively, the Bison will look to build on a 2025 campaign in which they led the CNE with 3,003 passing yards. Nichols also returns five All-CNE selections, including First Team honoree Nick Foynes and Third Team selections Ben Rusczyk, Caden Kehoe, Bailey Hooper and Aidan O’Neill.

The 2026 schedule opens Friday, September 4 with a home matchup against MIT at Michael J. Vendetti Field. Nichols then travels to U.S. Merchant Marine Academy before returning home for Homecoming Weekend and a September 19 meeting with Coast Guard.

University of New England
2026 Schedule | 2026 Roster (returners: 64 | graduated: 26 | newcomers: 52)
2025 Results (8-2, 5-2 CNE) | 2025 Overall Stats | 2025 Postseason Finish: 3rd place

The University of New England and 11th-year head coach Mike Lichten begin the program's eighth competitive season on September 5 at the Coast Guard Academy.

Back for the Nor'easters in 2026 are 10 all-conference performers from a year ago, as well as one more from 2024. Senior running back and return specialist Damien Jones has been recognized at both positions each of the past two years (first team for both in 2025), and extended three of those nods into an all-region selection. Senior defensive lineman Spencer LaBrecque and junior offensive lineman Ily Muoio each return with a first team All-CNE pick and an all-region accolade in their pocket.

Senior defensive back Spencer Sherck, senior linebacker Tyron Gomes, and junior punter Cam Durkin are all in uniform with two previous all-conference honors to their credit. Senior running back Nathan Delgado, junior defensive back Ben Cardoso, senior linebacker Jeremy Franzini, senior quarterback Chris Lang, Jr., and senior defensive lineman Ashton Wonson fill out the list of those previously highlighted once.

UNE is coming off a program-best 8-2 overall record (by 2 games) and finished in sole position of third place in the league standings at 5-2. The Nor'easters boasted the second-most productive offense in Division III last season, at 515 yards per game. The rushing attack, led by Jones' massive campaign, was rated sixth in the country, while scoring finished 11th out of 241 teams (44.5).

Western New England University
2026 Schedule | 2026 Roster (returners: 73 | graduated: 12 | newcomers: 51)
2025 Results (6-4, 4-3 CNE) | 2025 Overall Stats | 2025 Postseason Finish: 4^th place
 
The Western New England football team looks to improve in 2026 following its second straight six-win season in 2025. Following the graduation of key players on both offense and defense, the Blue and Gold will look for reinforcements, bringing in a large freshman class and transfer group of more than 50 student-athletes. 
 
With the absence of quarterback Brady Lafferty and wide receiver De’Andre Harris, the Golden Bears will look for new weapons on offense to lead the charge. Rising junior Paul Gorry (Wallingford, Conn.) will look to pick up where he left off at the quarterback position for WNE last season, completing over 65% of his passes for 1,454 yards and throwing for 16 total touchdowns. Both Drew Caouette (Waterbury, Conn.) and Kelan Cornel (Cranston, R.I.) saw action at the lead position for the Golden Bears last season. WNE still has talent at wide receiver to showcase this upcoming season, with John De Camps (Naugatuck, Conn.), Jova’n Hill (Wethersfield, Conn.), Kevin Acosta (Meriden, Conn.), and Christian Delgado (Wakefield, Mass.) all expected to have big roles for the Golden Bears. The WNE run game will look to maintain its dominance with a one-two punch in returner backs Matt LaMontagne (Wolcott, Conn.) and Matthew McGuire (Oxford, Conn.), who combined to rush for more than 1,300 yards and 20 touchdowns last season.
 
On defense, new defensive coordinator Jake Salera ’20 has a lot to look forward to, with Nick Kolifrath (Dennis Port, Mass.) expected to lead the charge once again after coming off a 74-tackle junior season. Salera’s defense will also consist of Austin Pszczolkowski (Southington, Conn.), Michael Canavatchel (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.), Ryan Clark (Chelmsford, Mass.), and Ben Caulfield (Wethersfield, Conn.), all of whom have had standout moments in their WNE careers on and off the field. The Western New England special teams unit will also look to pick up where it left off from last season after Max LoGrasso (Lynnfield, Mass.) made eight of nine field-goal attempts and nailed 52 of a possible 54 extra-point attempts. John Moss (Roseland, N.J.) recorded 14 punts last season, averaging more than 33 yards per punt, and is expected to lead the charge in that category once again for the Golden Bears.
 
The 2026 season begins on Friday, September 4, at 7:00 PM when the Golden Bears make a short trip to Springfield College in the 13^th Annual Pynchon SAW Trophy Game.
 

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE OF NEW ENGLAND

Originally founded in 1984 as the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), and reconstituted as the Conference of New England (CNE) in 2024, the CNE is an NCAA Division III athletic conference composed of 11 full member and nine associate member institutions throughout the New England region. Its membership aims to provide student-athletes with a positive experience in their pursuit of excellence through high-level athletic competition, academic achievement and community engagement.