EASTON, Mass. (December 8, 2025) – Stonehill College men's hockey sophomore forward Zachary Aben has been accepted into the Engaged Athlete Fellowship, a distinguished leadership program for student-athletes run by The Team, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization. The fellowship aims to build a diverse class of student-athlete leaders who promote and increase nonpartisan civic engagement within their teams, campuses, and surrounding communities.

Aben, an international business major, currently serves as a Stonehill Team IMPACT Fellow. In this role, he partners with the athletic department to organize signing day events, raise program awareness across campus, and contribute creatively to strengthening Team IMPACT's presence at Stonehill. His responsibilities include fostering community engagement, supporting program development, and educating peers about opportunities to participate.

As part of the fellowship, Aben will design and execute a yearlong project. He plans to collaborate with student-athletes from various programs to host a series of sports clinics aimed at supporting local youth facing chronic illnesses and disabilities. Building on last year's successful floor hockey clinic—led by recent men's hockey graduate Cam Mannion—Aben hopes to expand the initiative and broaden its impact within the community.

Aben, who serves as an assistant captain and member of the Skyhawks' leadership group this season, has appeared in 32 career games, recording three goals and eight assists for 11 points.

Stonehill capped the first half of its season with a weekend sweep of Alaska-Anchorage, improving to 3–13–1. The two-game sweep marked the program's first in its NCAA Division I era. The Skyhawks return to action in the new year with a two-game road series at Saint Lawrence in Canton, New York. Puck drop for the Friday, January 2 opener is set for 7 p.m.

About The Team

The Team is a nonpartisan organization that creates award-winning programming focused on integrating civic engagement into college athletics. We offer a pathway for every athlete, coach, and administrator to become more engaged citizens. Our mission is to develop teammates, inspire leaders, and empower citizens.

Since 2020, our organization has engaged over 54,000 athletes, coaches, and administrators, planned over 600 Election Day events, and executed groundbreaking national programming with leaders such as Stephen Curry and Condoleezza Rice. We have won numerous awards, including being recognized for Fast Company's 2023 World Changing Ides and we have had stories published in major media publications like ESPN, Teen Vogue, Forbes, and others.

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