The United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) is a college athletic conference which operates in Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania in the eastern United States. It participates in NCAA Division III as a hockey-only conference.
History The conference was announced in 2016 as an association of 10 schools and league play began for the 2017–18 academic year, with nine each playing in the men's and women's divisions. The majority of the member schools were previously members of the now-defunct ECAC West hockey conference. Wilkes University was also announced as a future member for both the men's and women's divisions for the start of the 2018–19 academic year, the same time when charter men's member Nazareth College began varsity women's play in the UCHC. The following season, Alvernia University joined for its first season of varsity women's play. In July 2021, Arcadia University new men's and women's programs were accepted into the league. A year later, Alvernia added its men's team to the conference lineup.
In 2023, the conference was split in two when Misericordia began sponsoring men's ice hockey, allowing the Middle Atlantic Conferences to receive an automatic bid for the NCAA tournament and form a new ice hockey division. In September of that year, Brockport State and Geneseo State announced that their men's teams would be joining the UCHC for the 2024–25, bringing membership back up to eight teams. About a month later, Neumann and Wilkes also announced that they would be leaving the UCHC for MAC as well. This dropped membership back down to six teams, the minimum number of programs required for an at-large bid. A few months later, the conference added four more schools for the 2025 season with Albertus Magnus, Elmira and St. John's Fischer each adding men's and women's hockey while Hilbert's women's team would join.
The league did not have an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship or the NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Championship for the 2017–18 season but the Men's league gained the bid for the 2018–19 season and the Women's league did for the 2019-20 season.
Members schools Current members
School Location Nickname Founded Affiliation Enrollment Year Joined Primary Conference Colors(M)(W) Albertus Magnus College New Haven, Connecticut Falcons 1925 Private 1,200 2025-26 GNAC Chatham University Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Cougars 1869 Private 2,300 2017-18 PAC Elmira College Elmira, New York Soaring Eagles 1855 Private 1,170 2025-26 Empire 8 Hilbert College Hamburg, New York Hawks 1957 Private 800 2025-26 AMCC Manhattanville University Purchase, New York Valiants 1841 Private 2,700 2017-18 Skyline Nazareth University Pittsford, New York Golden Flyers 1924 Private 2,800 2017-18 (men)2018-19 (women) Empire 8 St. John Fisher University Pittsford, New York Cardinals 1948 Private 2,700 2025-26 Empire 8 State University of New York at Brockport Brockport, New York Golden Eagles 1867 Public 7,924 2024-25 Empire 8 State University of New York at Geneseo Geneseo, New York Knights 1871 Public 4,910 2024-25 Empire 8 Utica University Utica, New York Pioneers 1946 Private 4,400 2017-18 Empire 8
Membership timeline
Former members School Location Nickname Founded Affiliation Enrollment Year Joined Year Left Current Conference Colors Alvernia University Reading, Pennsylvania Golden Wolves 1958 Private 2,872 2019-20 (women)2022-23 (men) 2023-24 MAC Arcadia University Glenside, Pennsylvania Knights 1853 Private 2,473 2021-22 2023-24 MAC King's College Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Monarchs 1946 Private/Catholic 2,300 2017-18 2023-24 MAC Lebanon Valley College Annville, Pennsylvania Flying Dutchmen 1866 Private/Methodist 1,750 2017-18 2023-24 MAC Neumann University Aston, Pennsylvania Knights 1965 Private/Catholic 3,000 2017-18 2023-24 MAC Stevenson University Baltimore County, Maryland Mustangs 1947 Private 3,700 2017-18 2023-24 MAC Wilkes University Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Colonels 1933 Private 5,000 2018-19 2023-24 MAC William Smith College Geneva, New York Herons 1908 Private 2,229 2017-18 2021-22 SUNYAC
Champions
Men Season Regular season Tournament 2017–18 Utica Utica 2018–19 Utica Manhattanville 2019–20 Utica Utica 2020–21 Utica Elmira2021–22 Utica Utica2022–23 Utica Utica2023–24 Utica Utica2024–25 Utica Geneseo2025–26 Utica Utica
Women Season Regular season Tournament 2017–18 Elmira Elmira 2018–19 Elmira Elmira 2019–20 Elmira Elmira 2020–21 Elmira Elmira 2021–22 Nazareth Nazareth 2022–23 Nazareth Nazareth 2023–24 Nazareth Nazareth 2024–25 Nazareth Nazareth 2025–26 Nazareth Elmira
Arenas School Arena Capacity Chatham Hunt Armory Ice Arena n/a Manhattanville Playland Ice Casino n/aElmiraMurray Athletic Center3,200Albertus MagnusRalph Walker Skating RinkN/ASt John FisherRochester Ice Arena500 Nazareth Tim Horton's Iceplex 2,000 SUNY Brockport Wegmans Ice Arena 2,000 SUNY Geneseo Wilson Ice Arena 2,100 Utica Adirondack Bank Center 3,860
References
External links Official web site