The Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL) was a collegiate hockey conference at the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division I level. The league was created in 2017 and is made up of eight teams located in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.
During the 2024–25 season, Delaware, Stony Brook, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh announced they would be leaving the ESCHL for the newly formed ACCHL Men's Division 1 subsection. This left only Drexel and Rhode Island. With the conference no longer having a sufficient number of teams for a meaningful in-conference season, both Drexel and Rhode Island departed for the ECHA in the summer of 2025.
Format League teams play a 20-game league schedule consisting of 2 games against each of the other league teams. League playoffs are held in February with the top 4 teams qualifying for the playoffs. ESCHL Champions receive an automatic bid to the ACHA Men's Division I National Tournament.
History Penn State University won the first two playoff championships over the University of Delaware in both 2008 and 2009. The regular season title was shared by Penn State, Delaware, and the University of Rhode Island in the 2008–2009 with each team finishing with 25 points in the standings. Navy and Drexel left the conference to join the Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association and Robert Morris University joined the conference beginning in the 2010–11 season. In September 2010, prior to the start of the 2010–11 season, Penn State left the conference in 2011 during the program's transition to NCAA Division I. Robert Morris left the league to join College Hockey Mid-America(CHMA) but was replaced by Rutgers in the 2012–13 season. Rutgers left for NECHL in 2018. Drexel joined the league from ECHA before the 2020–2021 season. Niagara & Pitt joined the conference from the NECHL and CHMA for the 2022–23 season.
Membership SchoolLocationFoundedAffiliationEnrollmentNicknamePrimary conferenceDrexel UniversityPhiladelphia, PA1891Private25,595DragonsCAA D-IUniversity of DelawareNewark, DE1743Public19,067Fightin' Blue HensCAA (D-I)University of PittsburghPittsburgh, PA1787State-related50,027PanthersACC (D-I)University of Rhode IslandKingston, RI1892Public19,095RamsA-10 (D-I)Stony Brook UniversityStony Brook, NY1957Public26,782SeawolvesCAA (D-I)Syracuse UniversitySyracuse, NY1870Private21,267OrangeACC (D-I)
Previous members Navy - 2007–2010, now in ECHA Scranton - 2007–2008, now in ACHA Men's Division II, CSCHC Penn State - 2007–2011, now NCAA Division I Robert Morris - 2010–2012, now in CHMA Rutgers - 2012–2018, now in NECHL Liberty - now ACHA Division I Independent NYU - now in ECHA Niagara - now ACHA Division I Independent
Conference arenas SchoolHockey ArenaLocationCapacity Delaware Fred Rust Ice Arena Newark, DE 2,500Drexel Class of 1923 Arena Philadelphia, PA2,500 Pitt Alpha Ice Complex Pittsburgh, PA 1,200 Rhode Island Bradford R. Boss Arena Kingston, RI 2,500 Stony Brook The Rinx Hauppauge, NY 1,000 Syracuse Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion Syracuse, NY 350
List of Championship Games Year Winner Score Runner-up Arena City 2008 Penn State 8–3 Delaware McMullen Hockey Arena Annapolis, Md. 2009 Penn State 4–1 Delaware Penn State Ice Pavilion University Park, Pa. 2010 Penn State 7–5 Rhode Island Fred Rust Ice Arena Newark, Del. 2011 Rhode Island 5–4 Delaware Bradford R. Boss Ice Arena Kingston, R.I. 2012 Rhode Island 4–3 Stony Brook Ice Line Quad Rinks West Chester, Pa. 2013 Stony Brook 3–2 Delaware Fred Rust Ice Arena Newark, Del. 2014 Stony Brook 5–4 Delaware The Rinx Hauppauge, N.Y. 2015 Stony Brook 5–4 (OT) Delaware Middletown Sports Complex Middletown, New N.J. 2016 Stony Brook 4–1 Lebanon Valley Hersheypark Arena Hershey, Pa. 2017 Liberty 6–1 Stony Brook Bradford R. Boss Ice Arena Kingston, R.I. 2018 Liberty 2–1 Stony Brook Ice Line Quad Rinks West Chester, Pa. 2019 Syracuse 3–2 (2OT) Liberty Ice Line Quad Rinks West Chester, Pa. 2020 Liberty 4–0 Stony Brook Ice Line Quad Rinks West Chester, Pa. 2022 Stony Brook 4–2 Delaware Ice Line Quad Rinks West Chester, Pa. 2023 Pittsburgh 8–2 Niagara Revolution Ice Center Scranton, Pa. 2024 Drexel 4–2 Rhode Island Revolution Ice Center Scranton, Pa. 2025 Delaware 5–4 (OT) Syracuse Revolution Ice Center Scranton, Pa.
See also American Collegiate Hockey Association List of ice hockey leagues
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