This year the balance of power could shift as there is much more parity in the region. The top teams from the past few season have lost several key players to graduation while a number of newer programs are on the rise. Not only do more teams have coaches now than they did a few years ago, but as programs gain experience they are often able to attract better athletes.

Last season, Dartmouth, Brown, and MIT earned the three bids to the championships. Brown made it to quarterfinals, but since both Dartmouth and MIT lost in pre-quarters the Northeast did not earn a strength bid for next year. The region should still secure a size wildcard, giving the NE two bids to the 2006 championships.

There are a number of teams in contention for the two bids. Dartmouth, MIT, Brown, Tufts, and Yale are the familiar faces that should be playing far into the Regionals brackets. Other teams to watch include Amherst, Northeastern, Wellesley, Harvard, and Boston University.

Dartmouth performed well during the fall of 2005, winning both Yale's Coffee Cup and William's Purple Valley tournaments. The team graduated half of its 14 person roster from last year, including the team’s Callahan-nominee Lorraine Ferron. Nonetheless, this year's squad is lead by Lakshmi Narayan and Liz Middleton, both of whom played for the club team Lady Godiva this fall. This athletic squad is the favorite to defend its regional title in 2006.

MIT lost some key personnel, namely Callahan finalist Nancy Sun, Angela Tong, and Alison Cohen. This year's team still has a strong group of upperclassmen, led by senior Yelena Gorlin and Lady Godiva players Taylor Schildgen and Erika Swanson. Aided by the return of Sun and Tong as coaches, the team's tight-knit group should perform well come spring.

Graduation hit Brown harder than most. The team graduated 12 players, including Callahan finalist Rebecca Simon. Although the team's underwhelming fall performance is not atypical of the program, this year it might signify a rougher spring season than in year's past. The team still has its strong traditions as well as good coaching from Ted Munter (coach for Team USA and DoG) and Maureen McCamley (of Godiva).

Both Tufts and Yale did not lose many players to graduation. Tufts' coach Sangwha Hong has built a solid program in the past two years and has a core group of upperclassmen to lead this season. Senior Meghan Cain also gained valuable experience playing with club mixed team Six Trained Monkeys and helped the team make semis of this fall's Coffee Cup, Huck-a-Hunk and C.C.C. Yale only graduated five players and has a deeper team this year than last. Strong returners include Keri Dorko and Steffi Wu, both of whom played at the club mixed championships with Six Trained Monkeys and Mischief, respectively. Holly Stephens also returns as Yale's coach and she should continue the positive impact she started last year.

Dartmouth, MIT, Brown, Yale, and Tufts are all planning on attending out-of-region tournaments where they will get the opportunity to match-up against the other top teams across the nation.