The Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League (ACCHL) is a non-NCAA collegiate ice hockey league in the mid-atlantic and southeast regions of the United States. The Mission of the ACC Hockey League is to provide student-athletes an option to compete in organized intercollegiate ice hockey without the high expenses of NCAA level hockey.
All teams in Men's Division I compete out of the ACHA. All teams in Men's Division II compete out of the ACHA Southeast Region in Division II with some being dual within Division II of the AAU. All teams in the Women's Division compete out of the ACHA Southeast Region in Division II. All teams in Men's Division II 'A' compete in the AAU as part of the Division III level with some being dual within Division III of the ACHA. All teams in Men's Division III compete in the AAU as part of the FED Division. Mike "Sheriff" Walley is the current executive director of the league.[1]
2024: High Point moves up from Men's Division III Premier to Division II Elite and Men's Division III Elite to Division III Premier. TCNJ, Wake Forest (second team) & Widener join Men's Division III Premier. North Carolina & West Chester join the Women's Division.
2025: The conference announced an ACHA Men's Division I league. Teams will include Alabama, Louisville, Delaware, Oswego State, Pittsburgh, Stony Brook and Syracuse. North Carolina & North Carolina State will move up to Division I to join the league. The conference also announced the return of the SEC with the additions of Alabama (second team), Auburn, Georgia and Ole Miss for a Men's Division. Georgia Tech will also join the conference in Men's Division II as Georgia's second team will also join on the Men's side. TCNJ announced that they will leave the conference to join the CSCHC. Denison announced that they will leave the conference to join the TSCHL
2026: Penn State announced that they will leave the conference to join the TSCHL. Rider announced that they will leave the conference to join the SECHL.
Tournament Championships
The 2026 ACCHL playoff tournaments features the top eight teams qualifying from the Men's Division I and the M2 Premier Division as the winner is awarded the Admiral's Cup. The M2 Elite Division features the top ten teams qualifying with seeds 7-10 participating in Play-In Games; the winner is awarded the Admiral's Cup. The Women's Division features the top six teams qualifying with seeds 1 & 2 getting a bye into the Semi-Finals; the winner is awarded the Commodore's Cup. The M2A Division features the top twelve teams qualifying with seeds 1-4 receiving first-round byes; the winner is awarded the Commodore's Cup. The M3 Division has the top six teams qualify with the 1 & 2 seeds getting a bye into the Semi-Finals; the winner is awarded the Commissioner's Cup.
For the 2020-2021 season, league playoffs were held despite numerous programs not competing due to the COVID pandemic.
ACC Fall Tournament
From 2009 to 2020, NC State hosted the Stephen Russell Tournament at some point every season to commemorate the loss of their goaltender, Stephen Russell, who had died. The team retired Russell's #20 in his honor.
Starting in the 2021–2022 season, the ACC began to host what is now the annual fall tournament for all M2 member teams for a three-game league weekend. The tournament takes place at The St. James in Springfield, Virginia. The league will typically invite two non-members from ACHA Men's Division II to come participate as well. In 2022, the ACC began awarding a Men's Premier and Elite winner separately as well as a Women's winner which is held on a different weekend.
The current tournament features a conglomerate scoring system of winning periods (2 points per period) and whole games (4 points = W, 2 points = OT/SOW, 1 point = OT/SOL, and 0 points = L). The totals are added for a final score.
The ACHA hosts their regional tournaments towards the end of February. Four regions (Northeast, Southeast, Central and West) see teams ranked #1-16 compete in a single elimination, two-day weekend for four berths to the Men's Division II National Tournament.
2020: #9 Wake Forest defeated #12 The College of New Jersey in Overtime; defeated #4 NC State; lost to #3 Cincinnati.
2021: ACHA did not hold the regional tournament due to the shortened seasons caused by COVID-19.
2023: #7 Penn State defeated #14 Rider; lost to #6 Ohio / #9 Rowan lost to #12 Louisville / #11 North Carolina defeated #10 NC State; defeated #5 Miami Ohio in Overtime; lost to #3 Kentucky.
2024: #7 North Carolina lost to #14 Pennsylvania / #8 NC State defeated #13 Rowan; defeated #6 Ohio; lost to #3 Indiana / #9 Penn State defeated #12 UNC Wilmington; lost to #5 Kentucky in Overtime / #10 Rider defeated #11 Louisville; lost to #4 Miami Ohio.
2025: #4 Penn State lost to #9 Indiana / #5 Virginia Tech lost to #8 Ohio in double Overtime / #6 NC State lost to #7 Miami Ohio in Overtime / #11 North Carolina lost to #10 Louisville / #14 Rider lost to #7 Miami Ohio.
2026: #7 Penn State defeated #10 Rowan; defeated #3 Ohio / #9 South Carolina lost to #8 Liberty in Overtime / #11 Tennessee defeated #6 Liberty; lost to #1 Florida Gulf Coast / #14 Virginia Tech lost to #3 Ohio / #15 Georgia lost to #2 Tampa / #16 UNC Wilmington lost to #1 Florida Gulf Coast.
ACHA Men's Division I National Tournament
The ACHA hosts the Men's Division I National Tournament every March, hosting 24 teams with the Top-8 teams receiving first-round byes in a single elimination bracket.
The ACHA hosts the Men's Division II National Tournament every March, hosting 16 teams. Those teams are put into four separate pools with a team from each region. Winner of each pool advances to the Final Four.
2019: NC State (SE #4) finished 1–2 in Pool A; lost to Massachusetts (NE #1) 7–2, defeated Northern Colorado (West #2) 6-5 and lost to Trine (Central #3) 9–1.
2021: NC State (#2) finished 2–1 in Pool A; defeated Providence (#4) 6–4, Davenport (#3) 5-3 and lost to Mary (#1) 5–1.
2026: Penn State (SE #4) will compete in Pool B with Niagara (NE #1), Schoolcraft College (Central #2) and Montana State (West #3).
AAU Men's Division II National Tournament
The AAU hosts the Men's Division II National Tournament every March, hosting 12 teams (32 teams prior to 2025). The overall winner is the AAU Division II College Hockey National Champion.
2022: Christopher Newport (#16) finished 2-1 to win Pool A; lost to Central Florida (#17) 3-1, defeated Salisbury (#32) 5-2 and Tampa (#1) 4-3 in Overtime; lost to Ramapo (#9) 9-2 in the Quarter-Finals / Liberty (#12) finished 0–3 in Pool E; lost to Buffalo State (#21) 7-3, College of Charleston 4-2 and Babson (#5) 9-3 / East Carolina (#18) finished 1–2 in Pool B; lost to St. Bonaventure (#15) 9-4, Farmingdale State (#2) 7-2 and defeated Penn State Harrisburg (#31) 6-1 / College of Charleston (#28) went 1–2 in Pool E; lost to Babson (#5) 9-4, defeated Liberty 4-2 and lost to Buffalo State (#21) 11-5.
2023: Liberty (#4) finished 0-2-1 in Pool G; tied Fordham (#26) 3-3 in Overtime, lost to Alabama (#18) 5-1 and South Carolina (#10) 7-6 in Overtime / High Point (#32) finished 1-2 in Pool A; lost to St. Bonaventure (#1) 5-0 and Georgia (#16) 7-0 and defeated Massachusetts Maritime Academy (#24) 7-2.
2024: High Point (#3) finished 3-0 in Pool C; defeated Farmingdale State (#18) 3-0, Alabama Huntsville (#13) 6-4 and Central Florida (#8) 5-3; defeated Clemson (#11) in the Quarters 6-4; lost to Florida (#2) in the Semi's 9-3 / Liberty (#6) finished 0-3 in Pool E; lost to Clemson (#11) 5-2, Vanderbilt (#16) 5-4 and Bishops (#5) 6-3.
2025: High Point (#3) finished 3-0 in Pool C; defeated Georgia Tech (#18) 7-1, Miami FL (#13) 6-1 and Penn State Harrisburg (#8) 5-2; defeated South Florida (#5) in Quarters 5-3; defeated Tampa (#6) in Semi's 5-2; lost to Florida Atlantic (#1) in National Championship 5-2 / Wake Forest (#11) finished 0-3 in Pool A; lost to Farmingham State (#10) 6-3, Florida Atlantic (#1) 5-0 and Lynn (#20) 5-4 / Richmond (#16) was to play in Pool E but dropped out prior.
2026: Elon (#12) will face #1 Bishop's University.
AAU Men's Division III National Tournament
The AAU hosts the Men's Division III National Tournament every March, hosting 16 teams (8 teams prior to 2025). The overall winner is the AAU Division III College Hockey National Champion.
2024: William & Mary (#8) finished 0-3 in Pool A; lost to Miami FL (#1) 4-0, Stony Brook (#4) 5-2 and Rochester (#6) 11-2.
2025: Liberty (#1) finished 2-1 in Pool A; defeated Alvernia (#12) 4-0, defeated Rowan (#7) 4-0 and lost to St. John Fisher (#6) 3-2 / Rowan (#7) finished 1-2 in Pool A; lost to St. John Fisher (#6) 5-1, lost to Liberty (#1) 4-0 and defeated Alvernia (#12) 6-1 / Coastal Carolina (#4) finished 1-2 in Pool C; defeated Stony Brook (#9) 5-2, lost to Fairfield (#10) 4-3 and lost to South Carolina (#3) 4-3 / Appalachian State (#8) finished 1-2 in Pool B; lost to Rutgers (#5) 7-2, lost to Columbia (#2) 8-6 and defeated Tennessee (#11) 4-3 in Overtime.
2026: Liberty (#1) will face #16 Alvernia / Georgia (#7) will face #10 Springfield College / High Point (#9) will face #8 Le Moyne / Stevenson (#12) will face #5 Jefferson Community College / North Florida (#14) will face #3 St. John Fisher.
AAU Women's National Tournament
The AAU hosts the Women's National Tournament every March, hosting 8 teams. The overall winner is the AAU Women's College Hockey National Champion.
2026: High Point (#6) will face #3 Paul Smith's College.
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