ASU Completes Run to Back to Back Championships

The ASU Sun Devils have won back to back M3 WCHC Championships, after only giving up two goals through the three rounds. In the Championship game, ASU got up early and beat NAU 9-1 to reclaim the WCHC trophy.

In the first round, ASU dispatched LMU 9-1, while #8 Seed NAU had the biggest upset of the weekend, taking down #1 seed CSUF. The other upset in the first round was Nevada beating GCU, while Santa Clara narrowly avoided the third upset of the first round, hanging on to beat UC Davis in Overtime.

In the second round, NAU posted their second upset of the weekend, staging a third period comeback to force overtime, and winning it in the first overtime period, 5-4. ASU beat Nevada 4-0, their closest game of the weekend as the new UNR Wolfpack put up a great showing their first year.

ASU will reign supreme at least one more season, the league will publish next seasons schedule in August, look for news on league membership throughout the summer.

Fullerton Finishes on Top for M3 Playoffs

The Titan’s won their final game, beating Long Beach in Overtime to secure the first seed in the 2026 WCHC M3 playoffs! The Titans, who led all teams with 22 out of a possible 24 points in the regular season finished in first place. The Titans will try to go win the WCHC Tournament for the first time in program history, and become just the second WCHC M3 Champions, but a long tough playoffs is ahead.

Playoffs will be hosted by Northern Arizona this coming weekend, as the eight playoff teams will descend on Flagstaff, Arizona. First seed CSUF will host #8 NAU in the first game, at 10 AM on Friday. #2 Santa Clara will host #7 UC Davis at 1 PM, #3 Arizona State will host #6 LMU at 4 PM and #4 Grand Canyon will host #5 Nevada-Reno at 7 PM. The final standings are shown below!

CSUF – 22 Points
SCU – 20 Points (Win Tie-Breaker over ASU/GCU)
ASU – 20 Points (Win Tie-Breaker over GCU)
GCU – 20 Points (Lose Tie-Breaker to ASU)
UNR – 16 Points (Win Tie-Breaker over LMU)
LMU – 16 Points (Lose Tie-Breaker to UNR)
UCD – 15 Points
NAU – 14 Points

UNM Lobos are M2 Champions

The Lobos from University of New Mexico dominated during the regular season, and they swept through the playoffs to become West Coast Hockey Conference Champions in just their second season in the league. After losing in the first round last year, the Lobos entered the tournament in first place, dispatched NAU 6-3 in the semi-final and led the entire Championship game, scoring to take their lead just a few minutes into the first.

ASU kept the play close, leading in shots for a good portion of the game, and generating offensive chances, but the Lobos counterattack generated scoring chances, and goals throughout the game. The Lobos kept up the pressure, eventually beating ASU 6-2.

The Lobos full team effort has earned them the title of WCHC M2 Champions, and the league bid to the ACHA West Regionals, but the Lobos strong season, along with a majority of the WCHC M2 league is already in position to qualify for the ACHA West Regionals, with UNM, ASU, NAU and GCU all currently in good spot to qualify for regionals, with LMU currently listed in the final spot for regionals, and the league expects UNM, ASU, NAU and GCU to all qualify when the regionals bids are announced.

Congratulations to UNM, and good luck to all of our teams who qualify to represent the WCHC at the ACHA Regional tournament!

M2 Playoffs Set – New Mexico Secures Top Seed

The newest team to the M2 ranks, University of New Mexico, secured the top spot in the WCHC Playoffs by beating NAU last week. With the completion of the WCHC M2 Regular Season, the playoff picture is in clear view.

Friday 2/6

5PM – #2 LMU vs. #7 UCLA

8PM – #3 ASU vs. #6 CSUN

8:30 PM – #4 NAU vs. #5 GCU

Saturday 2/7

5 PM – #1 UNM vs. Lowest Remaining

8 PM – 2nd Highest vs. 2nd Lowest

Sunday 2/8

10:30 AM – Championship

Join us this weekend at The Cube – Santa Clarita to enjoy the always exciting WCHC Playoffs in person! Tickets available at the door.

And We’re Off!

The 2024/25 WCHC season is off, and with 21 teams across our M2 and M3 divisions, we got lots of hockey this year.

In M2, newcomer University of New Mexico has started off 3-0, with a win over in state rivals Grand Canyon, and a sweep of Fullerton. Also off to a perfect start is LMU, sitting at 4-0, with wins over NAU, CSUN and CSUF.

Starting next weekend, ASU and UCLA will play their first conference games and everyone will have started their WCHC M2 schedule. Each team will play 12 games in the WCHC regular season.

In M3, Long Beach has started 4-0, with wins over Park University, CLU, and an overtime victory over LMU. NAU and ASU are also perfect so far with 2 wins in as many tries. The NorCal region started last night, with UC Davis picking up where they left off with a dominant win.

The M3 division teams play 12 games in the regular season, with 8 of the 12 teams qualifying for playoffs.

We’re 15 games in of 126, so hang on for a fun season!

WCHC Expands with M2 and M3 Leagues

The WCHC will be bringing ACHA M3 hockey back to the west coast, as the WCHC will expand with 21 teams spread over the M2 and M3 divisions, starting in the 2024-25 Season.

The new league will consist of 17 Universities, with 21 total teams. Joining the WCHC will be University of New Mexico, Park University Gilbert, and University of San Diego, who previously was a member of the WCHC.

ASU, GCU, NAU and LMU will add their existing M3 teams to the new M3 level.

The new M2 division will host 9 teams in a single tier (ASU, CSUN, GCU, UCSB, LMU, CSUF, NAU, UNM and UCLA) each playing twelve league games. 8 of the 9 teams will make a single elimination playoffs, with the winner being guaranteed a spot at the ACHA M2 West Regionals. Last year, 3 of the WCHC’s teams qualified for M2 West Regionals.

The new M3 division will host 12 teams, split into three regions, North (UC Davis, UCSC, Santa Clara), South (CLU, USD, LMU, LBSU, UCI) and Desert (ASU, GCU, NAU, Park U). Each team will play twelve league games, with 8 teams qualifying for a single elimination playoff tournament. The winner of the M3 Playoffs will be guaranteed* a spot at the ACHA M3 National tournament.

Both M2 and M3 playoffs will be held in a single weekend, February 7-9, 2025 at The Cube, in Santa Clarita, CA. Official playoff seedings for each playoff can be found on the standings page for each division.

We look forward to our teams now putting WCHC hockey on the map in multiple divisions!

(*Currently an autobid can only be won if the team is in the top 25 of M3 National rankings)

NAU are Champions in 2OT Thriller

The NAU IceJacks are WCHC Champions after a thrilling comeback victory over UCLA in the 2023/24 Playoffs. The game had great pace from the start, with #1 NAU vs. #2 UCLA. The Bruins scored first on a rush down the right wing. NAU quickly tied it up, and it was 1-1 for a bulk of the first period, but UCLA scored again late and led 2-1 after 1. In the second period, UCLA opened their lead up to 4-1, but NAU fought back, scoring two late goals to trail 4-3 after two periods. In the third NAU tied it 4-4, but UCLA took the lead again two minutes later. NAU was able to tie the game up again, and with 10 minutes left we were tied 5-5. With under five minutes to go, UCLA was able to score on a wrist shot from the slot, and as the clock ticked down UCLA looked to have the game in control. NAU pulled the goalie to get the extra attacker, and after missing a good opportunity, fired the puck from the right half wall, it bounced through the slot and NAU fired the puck home with only two seconds left to tie the game 6-6.

The game headed to Overtime, with the teams playing five on five. Each team traded chances, but no one was able to score. In double overtime the teams played four on four, UCLA had multiple chances, controlling play in the second overtime. With under a minute to go, UCLA had a good chance to score, but the shot was blocked and bounced towards the blue line, NAU took the puck cut down the right side and fired home the winner with only 17 seconds left. NAU won the thrilling game 7-6 in Double Overtime. Congratulations to our newest WCHC Champions, NAU IceJacks!

Previous Rounds:

Round 1) In round 1, #7 UCSB beat #10 LBSU 4-1. UCSB took the lead early in the first period and never trailed, but the game was close throughout. #8 SCU beat #9 CSUF in the second game of the day by a score of 6-3. This game was back and forth through the first two periods before SCU took control and the victory in the third period.

Round 2) In round 2, #3 LMU defeated #6 CSUN, 8-5. CSUN took the early lead and LMU scored five goals in the third period to complete the comeback. The second game had #1 NAU taking on #8 SCU, who was playing shorthanded after their round 1 victory. NAU controlled the game throughout, and won 14-1. In the third game, #2 UCLA beat #7 UCSB 6-3. The game was close through the first two periods, but UCLA outlasted UCSB and took control of the game in the third. The final game of round 2 had #4 GCU lose to #5 ASU 8-4. ASU scored four first period goals, and never looked back in the only upset win of the tournament.

Round 3) In round 3, #1 NAU survived a comeback attempt from #5 ASU, winning the game in a 5 round shootout after double OT. ASU scored two late goals in the third to tie the game 3-3, both teams had good chances in the two overtimes, but in the shootout NAU scored twice and got the 4-3 victory. The second game had #2 UCLA beating #3 LMU 3-2. The Lions scored first, and led 1-0 after one. The second UCLA was able to gain a foothold and scored twice, leading 2-1 after two. In the third, the Lions were able to tie the score, but UCLA was able to score on a late rush. Despite numerous chances the Lions couldn’t tie the score, and UCLA went on to win.

Playoff Field is Set

The 23/24 WCHC Playoff field is set, and the action starts this coming Thursday, 2/8 as the Tier 2 North and South teams battle in the first round of playoffs.

NAU leads the playoff field as the number 1 seed, with an impressive 9-1 record in league play. UCLA and LMU split their season series, with UCLA coming in 2nd in league with a 7-3 record, and LMU with a 6-4 record. GCU, ASU and CSUN are ranked 4, 5 and 6. UCSB won the Tier 2 South title, with a perfect 8-0 conference record. Santa Clara won the Tier 2 North title with an 8-1 season record and will represent Tier 2 North in the WCHC playoffs. CSU Fullerton and CSU Long Beach came in 2nd and 3rd in Tier 2 South and will fill out the rest of the playoff bracket.

In the first round, UCSB will face off against LBSU in the first game, and SCU will play CSU Fullerton. The winners of these games will move on to the next round and face NAU and UCLA in the next round, where LMU v CSUN and GCU v ASU will also play.

The Winners will face off in the semi-finals on Saturday, and the Championship game will be on Sunday morning to crown the 23/24 WCHC Champions.

Last years Champions, GCU, will look to repeat, but have a tougher road this season as the #4 seed. UCLA, last years regular season champions, will start one spot lower at #2.

Check out the Full Schedule. All games are held at The Cube in Santa Clarita, California and the tournament is a single loss tournament.

Aggies Lead T2 North at Break

UC Davis sits undefeated in WCHC play, sitting with 12 points and a possible 18 points during their WCHC play this season. UCD can secure the Tier 2 North playoff spot with two more victories, which would secure their points lead over Santa Clara who sits in second place in the tier. The Broncos are 4-1, with 8 points, but can reach 14 if they win out this season. Fresno and UCSC are sitting behind, though Fresno has two victories and sits in third.

Gauchos and Titans Tied Atop T2 South

UCSB and CSUF are tied atop the WCHC Tier 2 South standings. Both teams are 5-0 on the season in conference place, and each have a possible points total of 16, though they face each other twice in their final 3 games each. The intrigue in the tier is for the third playoff spot, as LBSU and UC Irvine are each tied with 4 points, though UC Irvine has played all their conference games this season, so would need LBSU to lose out to reach a tie breaker for the final spot. The Kingsman of CLU sit at the back of the pack, but won their first conference game of the season in December and are coming together as a team throughout the season.