Field and Schedule Set for American Collegiate Hockey Association Women’s D1/D2 National Championships Mid-Atlantic, Northwest and Midwest Well Represented In National Tourney Ashburn, VA (February 22, 2012) – They will journey from as near as Newark, Delaware and Lynchburg, Virginia and far away as Anchorage, Alaska but regardless of whether they travel by car, bus, plane or dogsled, all 16 teams will have one thing on their mind when they visit Loudoun County, Virginia early next month.
They all want to win a national title.
From Thursday through Sunday, March 7-10, the nation’s top women’s intercollegiate club hockey teams will descend upon the Ashburn Ice House to vie for the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division 1 and 2 National Championships.
Liberty University from nearby Lynchburg will enter the competition as the tournament’s top Division 1 seed and will attempt to hold off the University of Massachusetts, Minnesota, Robert Morris University (IL), Northeastern, the University of Rhode Island, Michigan State and the University of Michigan in the quest for their first National Title. West Chester University, California University of Pennsylvania, the University of Delaware and Penn State will represent the Eastern Conference of Women’s Division 2 and will face Western opponents from the University of Alaska, North Dakota State, University of Minnesota-Duluth and the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Each of these teams recently concluded regular season schedules consisting of anywhere from 10 to 35 games and were selected by a poll of college hockey coaches who took into consideration such criteria as team records, strength of schedule, record against ranked opponents and competition within their divisions. “Without a doubt, the coaches got the selections right,” says Kim Becker, ACHA Commissioner for both women’s divisions. “The top eight teams in each division will compete for their respective National Championships.”
All games will take place at the Ashburn Ice House in Ashburn, Virginia beginning with round robin play. All Division 1 teams will play twice on Thursday and once on Friday while Division 2 teams play once Thursday and twice on Friday. The top four teams from pool play advance to Saturday’s semifinals with third place and championship games scheduled for Sunday.
All games are open to the public. Full tournament tickets are priced $35 for adult, $25 for high school and college students and $10 for youth; single day passes are priced $15 for adults, $10 for students and $5 for youth. Under six allowed in free.
For more information, visit www.achahockey.org or contact Steve Winter at 202-468-8100; or swinter@aboutbwf.com.
Schedule of Play
DIVISION ONE
Thursday, March 7
9:00 am Liberty Univ. vs. Michigan
9:15 am Univ. of Mass. vs. Michigan State
11:15 am Minnesota vs. Univ. of Rhode Island
11:30 am Robert Morris vs. Northeastern
6:00 pm Univ. of Rhode Island vs. Liberty Univ.
6:15 pm Northeastern vs. Univ. of Mass
8:15 pm Michigan vs. Minnesota
8:30 pm Michigan State vs. Robert Morris
Friday, March 8
1:00 pm Liberty Univ. vs. Minnesota
1:15 pm Univ. of Mass vs. Robert Morris
3:15 pm Univ. of Rhode Island vs. Michigan
3:30 pm Northeastern vs. Michigan State
Saturday, March 9
11:00 am Semifinal
1:15 pm Semifinal
Sunday, March 10
11:00 am Bronze Medal
3;15 pm Championship
DIVISION TWO
Thursday, March 7
1:30 pm Alaska vs. Penn State
1:45 pm West Chester vs. Minnesota-Duluth
3:45 pm Wisconsin-Stout vs. Delaware
4:00 pm Calif. Univ. of PA vs. No. Dakota State
Friday, March 8
8:30 am Alaska vs. Delaware
8:45 am West Chester vs. No. Dakota State
10:45 am Wisconsin-Stout vs. Penn State
11:00 am Calif. Univ. of PA vs. Minnesota-Duluth
5:30 pm No. Dakota State vs. Penn State
5:45 pm Delaware vs. Minnesota-Duluth
7:45 pm Alaska vs. Calif. Univ. of PA
8:00 pm West Chester vs. Wisconsin-Stout
Saturday, March 9
3:30 pm Semifinal
5:45 pm Semifinal
Sunday, March 10
11:00 am Bronze Medal
1:15 pm Championship
