NY Teams Head to Inaugural AAU College Hockey National Championship
10 Upstate New York Collegiate Hockey League teams will play in the inaugural AAU National Championship starting Friday in suburban Philadelphia.
8 UNYCHL schools, including the top two ranked teams in the country, will compete for the National Division title; while two squads from the league are in the new American Division tournament. Preliminary play gets underway Friday morning with 16 games on four rinks scheduled for day one at the Ice Line Quad Rinks in West Chester, PA.
Fredonia and Cortland are the first UNY teams in action at 10:15am Friday. The Blue Devils play Penn State-Harrisburg, while the Red Dragons see Quinnipiac in their opener.
The #1-ranked St. Bonaventure plays at 7pm Friday against High Point University, while League Champion and #2-ranked Niagara plays Clemson at 7:15pm. The Bonnies (18-1-2) could play with a bit of a chip on their shoulder after their first loss of the year in the UNYCHL Quarterfinals. The Purple Eagles (22-4) have won 13 of their last 14 games.
Friday UNYCHL Matchups (National Division):
Fredonia (7-5-2) vs. Penn State-Harrisburg (22-7-1)—10:15a Rink 3
Cortland (8-9-2) vs Quinnipiac (9-12-2)—10:15p Rink 2
Cornell (12-7-3) vs Florida Atlantic (17-5)—1:00p Rink 1
University at Buffalo (18-5-1) vs Embry-Riddle (15-10)—4:00p Rink 4
Binghamton (15-5-1) vs Alfred State (6-7-1)—7:00p Rink 4
St. Bonaventure (18-1-2) vs High Point (13-9-1)—7:00p Rink 1
Niagara (22-4) vs Clemson (9-12)—7:15p Rink 2
American Division pool play starts on Saturday. St. John Fisher (20-7-1), the Tier 2 UNYCHL-champions and facez salisbury at 3pm. The Niagara D3 team (13-5-1) draws Florida Southern first at 3:15p on Saturday.
Black Dog Hockey is broadcasting all AAU National Championship games: https://bdehockey.com/
This event marks the official transition from the Collegiate Hockey Federation (CHF) to the newly-christened AAU College Hockey. With the backing of the 140-year-old athletic union, organizers hope AAU College Hockey can represent a new level of collegiate play. Not NCAA, but also not Club.
Images Courtesy of Bardown Creative Digital Media and RJKCameraworks.
