After two years of unparalleled success, in which the MIT mens hockey team had not lost a single Northeast Collegiate Hockey Association contest, the Engineers brought home an unprecedented third-straight conference championship.

Tech started the season by extending its unbeaten streak to 15 games with victories over Springfield (4-2) and WPI (7-4) and a tie against nationally-ranked Central Connecticut State (5-5). However, all good things must come to an end, and MIT suffered its first defeat since December 7, 1999 with a 4-0 loss to Franklin Pierce. The loss was also the first time the Engineers had been shutout since November 12, 1997 (WPI 3, MIT 0).

MIT then lost its first NECHA game under coach Mark O'Meara a 5-2 decision at the hands of Bryant College. OMearas teams had been 24-0-1 going into the match and the Engineers soon found themselves hovering at 6-6-1.

Despite losing three players who broke the 40-point barrier during the 1999-2000 season, OMeara rallied the troops and the team went on a rampage. The team ran the gamut with a five-game regular season winning streak, including a 5-0 shutout at Bryant College, the same team that the Engineers struggled with earlier. In this stretch, the Engineers outscored opponents 26-7, and improved their regular-season overall record to11-6-1.

The Engineers entered the playoffs with momentum from a five-game winning streak. In MITs first game, MIT routed Springfield 7-1 for a quarterfinals rematch against Western Division regular-season champion Franklin Pierce. MIT battled hard to down the Franklin Pierce Ravens 3-2, giving MIT an appearance in the finals against Bates College.

Prior to the 2000-2001 campaign, the Engineers were 10-0 over the last five years against the Bates Bobcats, but had lost both meetings in the 2000-2001 regular-season, 6-2 and 3-1. However, in the championship, MIT avenged both losses to the Eastern Division regular-season champions, when senior captain Avishai Geller 01 lifted the team to victory with the game winning goal.

If the Engineers are to extend their NECHA record championship streak to four years in a row, they are going to have to do it without graduating four-year letter winners Rocky Bryant 01, Mark Cappellari 01, Captain Avishai Geller 01, John McNally 01, Alex Reeve 01, Captain and Team MVP Russell Roder 01, and Shane Swenson 01.