In their first season in the West Coast Hockey Conference, GCU can call themselves Champions, after defeating #1 Seed UCLA in a final second goal. GCU opened the scoring in the second period, and a 2 on 1 rush, but UCLA would come back, scoring twice in the second to lead 2-1 after two. GCU mounted a strong third period, tying the game halfway through the third, and winning it on a last second rush, when a forward got open in the slot and ripped it over the UCLA goalies shoulder to win the game with just 8 seconds on the clock. Congratulations to GCU on their first conference Championship!

How we got here:

#1 UCLA faced #2 GCU in the championship, but not all went according to plan.

Round 1: #7 CSUN easily knocked off the T2 North champion #10 Santa Clara by a score of 16-3. In the other game, #9 CSUF came back in the third, but couldn’t complete the win as #8 UCSB won the shootout in an exciting game.

Round 2: #1 UCLA took down #8 UCSB 6-3 in the first game of the day. In game 2, #2 GCU took down #7 CSUN in a spirited fast paced game. The first upset of the tournament came in game 3, as #6 LBSU came back in a strong third period to take down #3 ASU 5-4, and the final game of round 2 saw #5 NAU take their own strong third period to beat #4 LMU 5-2.

Round 3: #1 UCLA shut out #6 LBSU 3-0, in a fun possession oriented game. In the other semi-final, #2 GCU would start their late game heroics by tying the score with NAU in the third, and then scoring on a back door tip in with only 2 seconds to remain, advancing them to the Championship game where they would pull off a similar late minute heroics.

The 2023 playoff field is set, and it took to the final game of the season for the seeds to finalize. UCLA, with its weekend sweep over LBSU and LMU finalized the top spot in the tournament.

Seeds:

1. UCLA 2. GCU 3. ASU 4. LMU 5. NAU 6. LBSU 7. CSUN 8. UCSB 9. CSUF 10. SCU

The playoff format will be a standard 10 team field, with re-seeding as necessary between rounds should there be an upset. The four Tier 2 teams that made the playoffs will play in the first round of the playoffs on Thursday night

Thursday games:

5pm – CSUN v SCU – While these teams didn’t play league games, they did face each other twice this season, with a 1-1 split. CSUN was undefeated in league play this year, and SCU won the Tier 2 North division.

8 PM – UCSB v CSUF – With a split in league play, UCSB finished tied in points with CSUF, but won the tie breaker with a better goal differential in their two games.

Friday Games:

11 AM – UCLA v. TBD – UCLA will face the lower ranked team that wins on Thursday in the first game of the Quarter-finals. UCLA did not play any of their possible opponents in the regular season.

2 PM – GCU v. TBD – GCU finished second in the standings, and will face the higher ranked winner from Thursday. GCU did not face any of their possible opponents in the regular season.

5 PM – ASU v. LBSU – ASU split their season series with LBSU early in the year, each a one goal victory. ASU finished the year stronger, and secured the 3rd place finish.

8 PM – LMU v. NAU – Another season split, as the Lions beat NAU by 3 goals in their first game, and lost their second game by 1. The two teams finished tied in points but LMU won the tie breaker to be the home team.

Saturday Games: The semi-finals will be on Saturday, with the first game at 2pm and the second at 5pm. The games will re-seed as needed so the highest remaining team will play the lowest remaining team.

Championship: The Championship game will be on Sunday at 10:30 am, with the winning team guaranteeing their spot in the ACHA regional tournament.

The tournament will be held at the Cube Ice Rink in Santa Clarita, CA. This is UCLA’s home rink. Admission will be $10 for an adult day pass, $20 for an Adult weekend pass, and $5 for child or student ID day passes.

The playoffs appear to be a wide open field, with mostly splits between the top 6 teams, and the Tier 2 winner, CSUN, right on their heels. Come check out a great weekend of hockey!

We’ve reached the midpoint of the WCHC season, with half of the conference games played. Tier 1 is wide open, with teams splitting series and close games across the board. Tier two has seen 2 teams emerge in each region as front-runners, vying for the final playoff spots in the exciting February tournament.

The Tier 1 conference plays a 10 game schedule. As of today, Arizona State leads the tier with 8 points, after wins at LMU, LBSU and NAU. Though only having three games remaining on their conference schedule, ASU can wrap up a top 2 spot with a few more wins. The rest of the conference is back and forth, with many series split and UCLA yet to play the bulk of their schedule. All six Tier 1 teams make the playoff tournament, but are jockeying for position of first round games.

Tier two south will send three playoff teams to the playoffs, and CSUN is the current leader. Each team playing a 10 game schedule, CSUN has won all five of their Tier 2 games so far, and playing close games against Tier 1, CSUN is the favorite to lock up the top tier 2 spot. Not to be outdone, Fullerton also has 10 points, with their only loss coming to CSUN. UCSB and UCI are battling for the third playoff spot from the region, hoping to make it to the February Tournament.

Tier 2 North has become a two team race for the one playoff spot, with each team scheduled to play 9 conference games this season. SRJC and SCU are tied for first place, with SCU holding a slight advantage with one fewer game played. Though these two teams have split their first two games of the season, the winner may come down to their third game of the year. With all 4 Tier 2 North teams being new to the conference, whoever qualifies will make their first WCHC playoff appearance.

However it shakes out, we are looking at an exciting WCHC playoffs in February. Hosted by UCLA at the Cube in Santa Clarita, the 4 tier 2 teams will play in the first round, with the two winners joining the six Tier 1 teams in the final 3 rounds of playoffs. The winner of the playoffs will get an auto-bid to the ACHA regionals. Can LMU repeat as WCHC champions, or will we see a brand new WCHC team take it home this year?

The WCHC has announced that eight teams have joined the WCHC for the 2022/23 season, along with a tier realignment.

UCLA, ASU, NAU and GCU will be joining the conference, all playing in the WCHC T1. ASU and NAU will be rejoining the conference, with ASU holding two previous championships, and NAU holding four. UCLA and GCU will be joining for the first time.

And for the first time, the WCHC will add a northern California bracket, named Tier 2 North. Santa Rosa Jr College, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz and Santa Clara University will be the first teams to join this bracket. All three of these teams join the WCHC for the first time.

The conference, which consists of two tiers, will play a combined playoffs. All six Tier 1 teams will qualify, while the top 3 teams from Tier 2 South, and the winner of the new Tier 2 North will join the WCHC playoffs as well. The winner of Tier 2, will have the option to move up to Tier 1 the following season.

The tiers will break down like this:

Tier 1 – LMU, LBSU, ASU, GCU, NAU and UCLA

Tier 2 South – CSUN, CSUF, UCSB, UCI, CLU, CSUB, Chapman

Tier 2 North – UC Davis, SRJC, SCU, UCSC

We welcome the new teams to our conference, making us the largest conference in the ACHA West, and with Tier 1 having the highest average rankings from last season.

The 2020 WCHC Prospect camp will take place August 15-16, 2020 at Lakewood Ice.  The eleven Universities that participate in the WCHC will be present to run, instruct and answer questions about each University and how to succeed in the ACHA hockey landscape.

CSU Northridge, CSU Fullerton, Loyola Marymount, CSU Long Beach, Chapman University, University of San Diego, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, CSU Bakersfield, Cal Lutheran and UCSB will all be present with their coaching staffs and general managers.  

The camp cost is $125 per player.  This includes (2) 1-hour practice slots, a game slot, and a 2 hour Q&A Information session about the Universities and the ACHA.  Each player will also get a custom WCHC camp jersey.  Saturday, August 17, the camp events will run from 12PM until 3PM.  On Sunday, the first event is from 11:30AM-12:30AM, followed by 2PM-3:30PM.

This is a great opportunity for your high school Junior’s, Senior’s and graduates playing Junior hockey to meet these University hockey programs face to face and learn about the exciting opportunities to play college hockey while getting a great education.

This camp is only open to players who will be applying to University in the next two years.  Please apply to the camp by clicking HERE.

The Matadors just didn’t lose, not once in this WCHC season.  Coming into playoffs with a perfect 8-0-0 record in the regular season, they breezed through the semi-finals with a win over USD, and came into their 5th consecutive Championship game looking for their 4th consecutive Championship.

From the CSUN Recap:

CSUN became the first team in West Coast Hockey Conference history to not only win four championships but to win them all in a row Sunday with a 4-2 victory over Loyola Marymount.

     The Matadors jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first period and never looked back.

     Dante Thorn opened the scoring at 10:15 by burying a rebound past Jason Footlick. Geno Norraik doubled the lead at 4:41. Norraik forced a turnover behind the net, skated out and scored through the five hole. Just 57 seconds later Christian Parks also scored five hole with a sharp angle wrist shot.

     LMU came out of the dressing room on fire and scored just 34 seconds into the middle frame. Brian Clem scored his fourth goal of the season against CSUN. But the Matadors made sure they had the three goal lead back before the break. Norraik sprung Quentin Abaya up the middle of the ice on a breakaway and Abaya scored over the left shoulder of Footlick.

     Just like in its semifinal game against San Diego CSUN ran into trouble in the final period taking three straight penalties. Clem was able to score yet again at 6:24 on the delayed second penalty. The Lions then received a two man advantage shortly after to really make things interesting but the Matadors survived.

     Sepe earned the victory in the WCHC Final for the fourth year in a row. Sepe is now 12-0-1-1 overall on the season.

     The win gives CSUN the auto bid from the WCHC into the regional tournament. The Matadors will learn exactly where they finished and who they will play later this week.

The Quarter Finals produced exciting games, and a huge upset in the first round of the WCHC Playoffs.

In the first game, 6th Seed USD took down the 3 seed, LBSU, scoring the game winning goal with only :30 seconds to play.  USD got up early, leading 2-0 after the first.  In the second, LBSU would battle back, to tie it 2-2, with USD scoring again to lead 3-2 after the 2nd.  LBSU would score early in the third, to tie it 3-3, where it remained the majority of the game.  But with under a minute to play, LBSU had the puck in their own end, and USD stole it, carried it to the net and scored to win it in dramatic fashion.  The final score was 4-3 in an exciting match up.  Brett Roenick scored a hat trick for USD in the victory.

In the second game, CSUF came out on top 6-4.  UCSB would get on the board first, and lead most of the first, but the Titans would tie it up late in the first to finish 1-1 after 1.  In the second, the goals came fast, as seven goals were scored in the frame.  CSUF had 4, to lead 5-4 after 2.  The third saw another swing in the game, with no goals scored until the final minute, as CSUF would chip the puck out and would score on an empty net, to win the game 6-4.

In the third game, the Lions scored early and often to beat Chapman 11-0.  The Lions goalies, Footlick and Campbell, combined for the shutout.

The Semi-Finals are up next, as #1 seed CSUN will host USD at 6pm, and #2 seed LMU will host #4 seed CSUF at 8:40.