Defending NEWHA champion St. Anselm has been tabbed by the league’s coaches as the preseason favorite to repeat as 2020 champions.

The 2019-20 season will be the NEWHA’s first as a Division I conference.

The Hawks, who collected five first-place votes, finished 25-3-1 overall a season ago and went an unblemished 15-0-1 in league play. They posted back-to-back shutouts in the league’s championship tournament to secure their first NEWHA title in February.

Last season’s second-place finisher from the regular season, Sacred Heart, collected the remaining first-place vote and was picked to finish second.