West Coast Hockey Conference

Last updated
West Coast Hockey Conference
West Coast Hockey Conference Logo.jpg
League ACHA
Founded2010
Sports fielded
Divisions2 & 3
No. of teams21
Region West
Most recent
champion(s)
Northern Arizona (4th title)
Most titles CSUN / NAU (4)
Official website Official website

The West Coast Hockey Conference (WCHC) is an ACHA Division 2 and 3 club hockey league which began play in the Fall of 2010. The six charter schools were Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, Northern Arizona and San Diego State.

Contents

History

The first game in conference history was played on October 1, 2010. San Diego State hosted Long Beach State and won 4-3. At the end of the regular season Arizona State was crowned the conference's first champion. [1] For the conference's second season and beyond a playoff will be held to determine the conference champion.

UNLV became the seventh member of the conference on April 16, 2011. [2]

After the 2011-12 season Arizona State, San Diego State and UNLV became independent once again leaving the conference with four teams for the next two seasons.

Cal State Northridge became the fifth member of the conference on February 25, 2014. [3]

Northern Arizona left to become independent once again after the 2014-15 season and Arizona State's Pac-8 team transferred over to keep the conference membership at five. [4]

Arizona State left to become independent after one season and San Diego State rejoined the conference for 2016-17. [5]

Chapman became the sixth conference member for the 2017-18 season. [6]

The WCHC announced on May 14, 2018 UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and the University of San Diego were approved as members and San Diego State left to join the Pac-8 conference bringing the conference total to eight. [7]

The conference reached a new high in members with the addition of Cal State Bakersfield and UC Irvine for the 2019-20 season. [8] In an effort to even out the skill level two tiers were created. Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount and UC Santa Barbara were placed in the top tier with the remaining five teams placed in the second tier. All top tier teams automatically qualified for the playoffs and the top two teams in the second tier qualified as well.

Cal Lutheran became a new member for the 2020-21 season while UC San Diego left the conference. CLU replaced UCSD in Tier II keeping total membership at ten.

After the 2021-22 season the WCHC expanded even further with Arizona State and Northern Arizona rejoining the conference and Grand Canyon, Santa Clara, Santa Rosa Junior College, UC Davis, UCLA and UC Santa Cruz becoming new members. San Diego also left which brought membership to a record 17 schools. With so many new schools the WCHC was divided into three tiers. Tier I consisted of six teams Arizona State, Grand Canyon, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, Northern Arizona and UCLA. Tier II South consisted of seven teams Cal Lutheran, Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Chapman, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara. Tier II North consisted of four teams Santa Clara, Santa Rosa Junior College, UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz.

Fresno State joined for the 2023-24 season in Tier II North while Santa Rosa Junior College is not fielding a team.

Three teams joined for the 2024-25 season while Fresno State left the conference. The University of San Diego brought their team back while the University of New Mexico and Park University-Gilbert became two new teams to join the conference. The WCHC also allowed Arizona State, Grand Canyon, Loyola Marymount and Northern Arizona to bring their Division 3 teams into the conference. The new Division 2 Tier will consist of nine teams Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Grand Canyon, Loyola Marymount, New Mexico, Northern Arizona, UCLA and UC Santa Barbara. The top eight teams will qualify for the playoffs. The Division 3 Tier will consist of 12 teams split into three regions. Santa Clara, UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz will play in the North. Cal Lutheran, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, San Diego and UC Irvine will play in the South. Arizona State, Grand Canyon, Northern Arizona and Park-Gilbert will play in the Desert. Again the top eight teams will qualify for the playoffs.

Members

SchoolLocationFoundedJoinedAffiliationNicknameColorsWebsite
Arizona State Tempe, AZ 18852022PublicSun Devils  
California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA 19592020PrivateKingsmen  
Cal State Fullerton Fullerton, CA 19572010Public (CSU System)Titans  
Cal State Northridge Northridge, CA 19582014Public (CSU System)Matadors  
Grand Canyon University Phoenix, AZ 19492022PrivateAntelopes  
Long Beach State Long Beach, CA 19492010Public (CSU System)The Beach  
Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA 19112010PrivateLions  
University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 18892024PublicLobos  
Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ 18992022PublicIce Jacks  
Park University-Gilbert Gilbert, AZ 20182024PrivateBuccaneers  
University of San Diego San Diego, CA 19492024PrivateToreros  
Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA 18512022PrivateBroncos  
UC Davis Davis, CA 19052022Public (UC System)Aggies  
UC Irvine Irvine, CA 19652019Public (UC System)Anteaters  
UCLA Los Angeles, CA 19192022Public (UC System)Bruins  
UC Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 18912018Public (UC System)Gauchos  
UC Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA 19652022Public (UC System)Banana Slugs  

Former members

SchoolCurrent Division (Conference)
Cal State BakersfieldNo longer have a program
ChapmanACHA D-2 (Independent)
Fresno StateACHA D-2 (Independent)
San Diego StateACHA D-1 (Independent)
Santa Rosa Junior CollegeACHA D-2 (Independent)
UC San DiegoACHA D-2 (Independent)
UNLVACHA D-1 (WCHL)

Team histories

Tournament champions

YearChampionRunner-UpHost
2024 Northern Arizona UCLA UCLA
2023 Grand Canyon UCLA UCLA
2022 Loyola Marymount (Regular season)--
2021Not played due to the COVID-19 Pandemic CSU Bakersfield
2020 Cal State Northridge Loyola Marymount Chapman
2019 Cal State Northridge [10] Long Beach State Cal State Fullerton
2018 Cal State Northridge Long Beach State Loyola Marymount
2017 Cal State Northridge San Diego State Cal State Northridge
2016 Arizona State-Maroon Cal State Northridge Loyola Marymount
2015 Northern Arizona Cal State Fullerton Northern Arizona
2014 Northern Arizona Long Beach State Long Beach State
2013 Northern Arizona Loyola Marymount Cal State Fullerton
2012 UNLV Northern Arizona UNLV
2011 Arizona State (Regular Season)--

Note: 2022 tournament cancelled

ACHA Division 2 Nationals teams

The WCHC has sent five teams to the Division 2 National Tournament.

2016 Host City: West Chester, PA

Liberty (L 4-1)

William Paterson (L 5-1)

Lindenwood (L 9-1)

2015 Host City: Salt Lake City, UT

NYU (L 3-1)

Liberty (W 5-2)

Grand Valley State (L 7-2)

2014 Host City: Marlborough, MA

New Hampshire (L 3-1)

Liberty (L 6-2)

Grand Valley State (W 6-2)

2012 Host City: Fort Myers, FL

New Hampshire (W 7-1)

Maryland-Baltimore County (W 5-4 OT)

Michigan State (T 2-2)

Grand Valley State (L 8-2)

Penn State (L 9-0)

Siena College (L 3-1)

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References

  1. "LMU Ice Hockey - Home Page". Archived from the original on 2006-05-17.
  2. "WCHC - Home Page". Archived from the original on 2011-02-08.
  3. "ACHA Nationals and CSUN Added | West Coast Hockey Conference".
  4. "ASU Maroon Joins the WCHC | West Coast Hockey Conference".
  5. "SDSU Joins WCHC for 16-17 Season | West Coast Hockey Conference".
  6. "Chapman University Joins WCHC | West Coast Hockey Conference".
  7. "WCHC welcomes three new schools | West Coast Hockey Conference".
  8. "UC Irvine, CSU Bakersfield Added to League | West Coast Hockey Conference".
  9. "LMU Ice Hockey - History". Archived from the original on 2006-05-17.
  10. D2, ACHA Men's (2019-02-10). "West Coast Hockey Conference CHAMPIONS • California State University, Northridge Matadors • #ACHA #WCHCpic.twitter.com/y4SaddWJbt". @achamensd2. Retrieved 2019-02-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

See also