The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association, or NCHA, is a league in NCAA Men's Division III and Women's Division III.
Origins of Conference[]
The men's conference was formed in 1980 out of the remnants of the International Collegiate Hockey Association when Bemidji State Beavers and Wiscosin-Superior Yellowjackets of the ICHA would join with the Mankato State Mavericks, St. Cloud State Huskies, Wisconsin-Eau Clair Blugolds, and Wisconsin River Falls Falcons.
- On May 27, 2020 the College of St. Scholsatica announced that the St. Scholastica Saints men's ice hockey and St. Scholastica Saints women's ice hockey teams would be joining the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association for the 2021-22 playing season replacing the St. Thomas Tommies (NCAA) men's ice hockey and St. Thomas Tommies (NCAA) women's ice hockey teams respectively.[1]
- On March 2. 2023 Finlandia University announced that the school would not be enrolling students for the fall of 2023 and would closing its' doors at the end of the 2022-23 academic year, thus ending both the men's and women's programs.[2]
- On April 14, 2023 the University of Dubuque announced the addition of varsity level men's and women's ice hockey teams at the NCAA Division III level both teams begin play with the 2023-24 season. Each team will be members of the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association and will be based out of the Dubuque Ice Center in Dubuque, Iowa, which is also home of the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League.[3][4]
Men's Membership[]
Former Members[]
| Team | Location | Arena | Tenure | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finlandia Lions | Hancock, Michigan | Houghton County Arena | 2003-2023 | college closes |
| Northland Lumberjacks | Ashland, Wisconsin | Bay Area Civic Center | 2013-2019 | join Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference |
Women's Membership[]
Former Members[]
| Team | Location | Arena | Tenure | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finlandia Lions | Hancock, Michigan | Houghton County Arena | 2004-2023 | university closes |
| Northland Lumberjills | Ashland, Wisconsin | Bay Area Civic Center | 2017-2019 | joins Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference |
| St. Scholastica Saints | Duluth, Minnesota | MARS Lakeview Arena | 2010-2021 | joins Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference |
The Marian Sabres new women's team joined the NCHA for the 2009-10 season. The Adrian Bulldogs women's team, previously independent, joined the same season. Marian's and Adrian's men's teams played in the MCHA with Concordia and Finlandia.
The St. Norbert Green Knights and St. Scholastica Saints started up new women's teams that joined the NCHA for the 2010-2011 season.
The Aurora Spartans joined the men's conference in 2015 after playing as a Division III Independent for the 2014-15 season and as a club level ACHA program in 2012-13 and 2013-14.
On June 14, 2016; the conference announced that they were adding the women's programs for the Aurora Spartans and Northland Lumberjills to match the men's programs and that Trine University would be added to the conference in men's and women's ice hockey when they begin Division III play. All four teams will join conference play for the 2017-18 season.
On April 5, 2018 Northland College announced that the Northland Lumberjacks and the Northland Lumberjills would be leaving the confernce after the 2018-19 season to join the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the 2019-20 season.[5]
Merger with MCHA[]
The Lake Forest Foresters men's team left the NCHA for the MCHA after the 2008-09 season and returned when the two conferences merged for the 2013-14 season. The merger was started when the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announced they were going start a men's ice hockey conference beginning with the 2013-14 season, with it's five members that sponsored the sport, all of which played in the NCHA this left the conference with only two remaining members. The Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association at this point had 8 members (5 of which already had women's teams in the NCHA and the other 3 did not have women's programs).
Tie-Break Procedure[]
If two or more teams are tied in points at the end of the regular season, ties shall be broken as follows:
1 - Head-to-Head competition
2 - Goal differential in games played between the tied teams only
3 - Goal differential in all NCHA games
Men's Conference Seasons[]
Women's Conference Seasons[]
Women's Conference Timeline[]
- 2000 The conference is formed with the Lake Forest Foresters, Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds, Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons, Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers, and Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets as charter members.
- 2004 The Finlandia Lions join the conference.
- 2008 The Concordia Falcons join the conference.
- 2009 The Adrian Bulldogs and Marian Sabres join the conference.
- 2010 The St. Norbert Green Knights and the St. Scholastica Saints join the conference.
- 2013 The Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds, Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons, Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers, and Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets leave the conference when the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference starts sponsoring women's ice hockey.
- 2017 The conference add the Aurora Spartans, Northland Lumberjills, and Trine Thunder.
- 2020 Lawrence Vikings join the conference as a new program, St. Norbert Green Knights and Finlandia Lions opt out of the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19 pandemic concerns
- 2021 St. Scholastica Saints leave the conference to join Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
- 2023 Finlandia Lions cease operations when the university closes at the end of the 2022-23 academic year. The Dubuque Spartans women's ice hockey team is announced as joining the conference starting with the 2023-24 season.
References[]
- ↑ https://www.uscho.com/2020/05/27/st-scholastica-mens-womens-hockey-teams-moving-from-ncha-to-miac-effective-21-22-season/
- ↑ https://www.nchahockey.org/sports/mice/2022-23/releases/20230302vkq98t
- ↑ https://www.uscho.com/2023/04/15/university-of-dubuque-starting-mens-womens-ncaa-d-iii-hockey-programs-for-2023-24-season-anticipates-transfers-from-finlandia-for-both-teams/
- ↑ https://udspartans.com/news/2023/4/14/mens-hockey-university-of-dubuque-to-add-mens-and-womens-hockey.aspx
- ↑ http://www.d3hockey.com/releases/men/2017-18/180405-northland-men-and-women-ice-hockey-to-join-wiac-in-2019-2020