Dylan Blue of Lewiston, Jonathan Rioux (Litchfield) and Aaron Higgins (Falmouth) are among the 25 former Maine high school players on the Central Maine Community College roster. The Mustangs begin national tournament play against Colby’s club team Tuesday in St. Louis. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

When players enter the Central Maine Community College men’s hockey locker room, past high school rivalries are no more.

“It’s definitely interesting at the start, going from competing against these guys every year to now sharing locker rooms with each other. But I think that just made us a stronger team,” defenseman Jonathan Rioux said. “We have battled against each other, battling with each other.”

The Mustangs will play in their second straight American Collegiate Hockey Association Division III club hockey national tournament in St. Louis. They will open against a familiar foe, Colby College’s club team, at 11:15 a.m. Tuesday.

CMCC’s roster of 28 players features 25 who played high school hockey in Maine, including many from rival schools.

“It’s kind of like the (Brad) Marchand (trade) to the Florida Panthers. As soon as they’re in the locker room, those guys have respect for each other and they figure it out,” CMCC coach Jordy Knoren said. “That’s the coolest thing about hockey — there’s so much respect. So as soon as those guys join each other on the team, it’s like, ‘Hey, now we’re playing with each other, like we don’t have to take each other’s head out.'”

Dylan Blue, who won a Class A championship with Lewiston in 2024, said he looked forward to playing with Aaron Higgins of Falmouth. Higgins got the better of Blue when they played each other in the 2023 postseason.

“We got whacked by him in my junior year when we lost 8-1 in the first round of the playoffs,” Blue said. “Definitely having him on our side this year is pretty fun.”

Higgins leads the Mustangs in scoring with 32 goals and 24 assists, and was named an ACHA second-team All-American. He transferred to CMCC from Liberty University, a club hockey powerhouse with teams in all three divisions of the ACHA level.

Higgins said he returned to Maine to play at CMCC.

“I know these guys are good,” Higgins said. “I knew I was going to a good team. So yeah, once I knew the players on the team, I knew I played against this kid, and I respect him. So I was like, might as well play with him and see what happens.”

Higgins saw the Mustangs play at last year’s nationals and said he knew this year’s team could do something special and return to the national tournament.

CMCC’s roster construction is far different from rival Colby. The Mules only have one Mainer, 2023 Travis Roy Award winner Mitchell Ham of Falmouth.

Unlike CMCC and Thomas College, which recruit players, Colby coach Mike Roy said he doesn’t know who he has until the first practice in the fall because the club hockey team is a student-run organization and the coaches are volunteers. However, Roy said, the players do have an extensive hockey background.

“We have kids, fortunately, that have grown up playing the sport and some very accomplished players,” Roy said. “They’ve gone to prep school, they’ve even played a year in juniors hoping some (NCAA) Division III school would recruit them, but didn’t get any interest. So they end up playing club sports at a place like Colby.”

Fourth meeting

The Mustangs (22-7) and Mules (15-2) have battled all season, splitting two regular-season games. CMCC won 5-4 on Oct. 24 and Colby took the rematch 3-2 on Nov. 17. The Mules captured the NorthEast Collegiate Hockey Association championship with a 4-0 win on Feb. 23.

“It is strange because we have such an intense rivalry with Central Maine Community College,” Roy said. “They’re a good team. They have a lot of good players. And frankly, we’d rather play someone else, but we’re going to play them and we’re going to have to play hard to beat them.”

Knoren said he doesn’t mind seeing the Mules again.

“They’re a really good team,” Knoren said. “They’re pretty big, actually, size-wise. So they’re just a fast team, really gritty. And those kids play prep school hockey. They know how to prepare. They know (how) to take care of their bodies and to do it well.”

If either team is to bring home the national championship, it will have to go through a gauntlet of five games in five days, including three pool-play games, as well as the semifinals and final.

“It’s pretty exciting. We’ve played (Colby) three times this year, but we know what to expect from a group like that,” Blue said. “The only team we haven’t played in our pool is Oakland (University). We played Colorado School of Mines pretty early in the season, so they could have gotten better. But we’ve still played them before and we definitely know what’s coming.”

Colorado School of Mines defeated CMCC twice in Auburn, 5-2 on Oct. 11 and 6-4 on Oct. 14.

Colby hasn’t played Oakland or Colorado School of Mines this season.