The UAH club hockey team isn’t done just yet. After setting a goal this season to reach the College Hockey South playoffs, the Chargers have gone one better.
AAU College Hockey announced its Division 2 national tournament field on Tuesday, and the Chargers are in. The tournament will take place from March 6-13 in West Chester, Pa.
“We are very excited for the opportunity to continue our season and continue to compete for a championship,” UAH head coach Tim Flynn said. “To be selected for nationals is an honor and full credit goes to this group and their hard work. I’m happy to see them be rewarded for it. They’ve earned the right to be here.”
From UAH coach Tim Flynn
As a club program the Club Hockey team receives minimal funding from the University. The financial burden for this trip to Nationals and throughout the season falls on the players and they put up a lot of money to be able to play and represent our University and City with pride. If you’re able to donate to help offset their costs, you can do so here. Any local businesses looking to partner with us can reach out to ClubHockey@uah.edu and we will be happy to figure out a plan that works for everyone. Stay tuned for some bonuses for certain donation levels over the next few days. Thank you again for all of your support. Go Chargers!
“Nationals has definitely been on our mind this whole season and we knew that would probably come with making it to the CHS playoffs in Huntsville this year,” Charger captain Bradly McDonald said. “These past two seasons we’ve really focused on creating a winning culture and qualifying for nationals is putting this program in the right direction. I’m really proud of how this team has overcome the ups and downs we’ve had this season which has allowed us to beat teams that surprised a lot of people.”
“We have a great group of guys that bought in and have been willing to work really hard this year,” said Keaton Watts, who leads the Chargers in scoring with 20 goals and 40 points. “I am excited to see all of our hard work pay off and give us another chance to showcase our talent and represent UAH.”
Traveling to a week-long tournament in Pennsylvania will be a considerable expense for the UAH club program. Donations to the Chargers can be made via their GoFundMe fundraiser.
The tournament field consists of 20 teams based on the final AAU Division 2 MYHockey Rankings. They were set on February 14, before the College Hockey South playoffs in Huntsville over the weekend.
Each of the six AAU Division 2 conferences’ top two teams in these rankings get “automatic bids.” The top eight teams in the rankings outside of the 12 auto-bids regardless of conference also get invites.
Here are the 20 qualifying teams, with their MYHockey ranking in parentheses:
| College Hockey South | (1) Florida Atlantic, 18-4-1 (2) Florida, 14-7-0 (4) Tennessee, 17-8-0 (7) Tampa, 16-10-2 (8) Central Florida, 16-9-3 (11) Clemson, 14-10-1 (13) UAH, 10-10-1 (15) Embry-Riddle (Fla.), 10-14-2 (16) Vanderbilt, 9-17-0 |
| Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League | (3) High Point, 22-5-0 (6) Liberty, 13-5-0 |
| Delaware Valley Collegiate Hockey Conference | (10) Penn State-Harrisburg, 21-9-0 (24) Neumann (Pa.), 13-4-2 |
| Empire Collegiate Hockey Conference | (22) Farmingdale State (N.Y.), 19-10-1 (25) Ramapo (N.J.), 11-10-0 |
| New England Independent Hockey Conference | (5) Bishop’s (Que.), 7-6-1 (9) Massachusetts Maritime, 17-6-0 (14) Anna Maria (Mass.), 10-5-0 |
| Upstate New York Collegiate Hockey League | (12) SUNY Brockport, 13-8-1 (17) Union (N.Y.), 13-2-0 |
College Hockey South got a whopping nine bids, owing to its relative strength in AAU Division 2. Only eight teams were in the CHS Division 2 playoffs last weekend (Embry-Riddle is the one team in the AAU field that was not in the CHS tournament).
The 20 teams will be divided into five pools of four teams each (seeding in parentheses):
Pool A: (1) Florida Atlantic, (10) Penn State-Harrisburg, (15) Embry-Riddle, (20) Ramapo
Pool B: (2) Florida, (9) Massachusetts Maritime, (14) Anna Maria, (19) Neumann
Pool C: (3) High Point, (8) Central Florida, (13) UAH, (18) Farmingdale State
Pool D: (4) Tennessee, (7) Tampa, (12) SUNY Brockport, (17) Union (N.Y.)
Pool E: (5) Bishop’s, (6) Liberty, (11) Clemson, (16) Vanderbilt
Pool play begins March 8. Here is UAH’s pool play schedule (game times are Central time):
March 8: UAH vs. Central Florida, 8:15 a.m.
March 9: UAH vs. High Point, 11:15 a.m.
March 10: UAH vs. Farmingdale State, 1:15 p.m.
“Just looking at our opponents on paper, obviously High Point looks like they can put up points against anyone,” Flynn said. “Some very impressive offensive totals on that team. We’ll have to get to work watching what they’re all about. We saw UCF (at the CHS playoffs) over the weekend, and they’re a very good team that’s going to be tough to play against. Farmingdale State is not your standard 18-seed as they come into the tournament with 19 wins and their leading scorer (Brendan Dixson) having 80 points.”
The five pool winners, along with with three wild cards, will advance to the national quarterfinals. Teams will be reseeded based on final national ranking. The quarterfinals are on March 11, the semifinals are on March 12, and the national championship game is on March 13.
“Our goal now is to get out of pool play and into the knockout stage and take it from there,” Flynn said. “That’s not going to be an easy task, we know that. We’re not going to be 100 percent, probably be a little short handed due to injuries, but I think everyone is a little banged up this time of year.”
The Chargers will play an extra game between now and the national tournament. On Friday, UAH visits the Pelham Civic Center to take on the Alabama ACHA Division I team at 7 p.m.
Photo by Jaime Crawford/JC Sports Photography