The East Coast Collegiate Hockey Association (ECCHA) was an ACHA college ice hockey conference in the Southeast region of the United States.
The ECCHA was created in August 2001 as Blue Ridge Hockey Conference or BRHC by eight collegiate hockey programs in Virginia and North Carolina. It was originally created as an ACHA Division III spin-off of the Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League (ACCHL), which competed at the Division II level. The original intent of the BRHC was to house newer and/or less organized programs until they demonstrated enough success to be promoted to the ACCHL. However, after a few years, the BRHC separated from the ACCHL and became its own stand-alone league.
The BRHC has advanced four of its members to the ACHA National Tournament since 2003.
As of the summer of 2017, the BRHC was restructured to form the East Coast Collegiate Hockey Association with the intent to improve the quality of its brand of ACHA Division III hockey in the mid-Atlantic and Southern region. The league transitioned back into the ACCHL for the start of the 2019–2020 season.
Teams ECCHA Atlantic Division North American University Northern Virginia Community College Marymount University College of William & Mary ECCHA Atlantic Division South Old Dominion University University of Richmond East Carolina University Appalachian State University ECCHA Colonial Division Christopher Newport University College of Charleston Coastal Carolina University Radford University Virginia Commonwealth University The Citadel
Former teams The last year as BRHC, in 2017, conference's membership had tripled since 2007, making it the largest collegiate hockey conference in the United States.
Colonial Division SchoolLocationFoundedAffiliationNicknameColorsChristopher Newport UniversityNewport News, VA1961PublicCaptains East Carolina UniversityGreenville, NC1907Public (University of North Carolina System)Pirates University of North Carolina-WilmingtonWilmington, NC1947Public (University of North Carolina System)Seahawks Radford UniversityRadford, VA1910PublicHighlanders Virginia Commonwealth UniversityRichmond, VA1838PublicRams Coastal Carolina UniversityConway, SC1954PublicChanticleers George Mason UniversityFairfax, VA1949 as branch of University of Virginia, independent university by 1972PublicPatriots
Atlantic Division- North Region SchoolLocationFoundedAffiliationNicknameColorsAmerican UniversityWashington D.C.1893Private/MethodistEagles Catholic UniversityWashington D.C.1887Private/Roman CatholicCardinals Marymount UniversityArlington, VA1856Private/Roman Catholic Saints Northern Virginia Community CollegeAnnandale, VA1964Community CollegeNighthawks College of William and MaryWilliamsburg, VA1693PrivateTribe
Atlantic Division- South Region SchoolLocationFoundedAffiliationNicknameColorsOld Dominion UniversityNorfolk, VA1930PublicMonarchs University of RichmondRichmond, VA1930PrivateSpiders Appalachian State UniversityBoone, NC1899Public (University of North Carolina System)Mountaineers Johnson & Wales UniversityCharlotte, NC2004Private/Non-profitWildcats The CitadelCharleston, SC1839Public Military CollegeBulldogs
Conference champions The championship tournament is held every year on the third weekend of February. In 2015 it was held at Chilled Ponds in Chesapeake, Virginia.
Year Champion 2001-02 Charleston 2002-03 Appalachian State 2003-04 Richmond 2004-05 Richmond 2005-06 Richmond 2006-07 Richmond 2007-08 Old Dominion 2008-09 VCU 2009-10 Appalachian State 2010-11 William & Mary 2011-12 Liberty 2012-13 James Madison 2013-14 James Madison 2014-15 Catholic University2015-16Northern Virginia Community College2016-17Citadel2017-18Richmond
Colonial Division Year Champion 2008-09 George Washington 2009-10 Loyola-Maryland 2010-11 Loyola-Maryland 2011-12 Christopher Newport 2012-13 Christopher Newport 2013-14 Loyola-Maryland2014-15Christopher Newport2015-16George Mason2016-17Christopher Newport2017-18Christopher Newport
See also American Collegiate Hockey Association List of ice hockey leagues
References
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