By Brooke Killgore
SYRACUSE, NY — The Athletic Coast Collegiate Conference (ACCHL) announced four new additions to its conference—including the Syracuse Men’s ACHA program—for its inaugural season in 2025-26.
The Orange will join four existing ACCHL teams that have already been announced; the University of Alabama, North Carolina State University, the University of Louisville, and the University of North Carolina. NC State, Louisville, and UNC have all recently received approval to make the jump to ACHA Division I for 2025-26. According to the conference’s press release, these programs were “given preliminary approval to form an ACHA Division I league of at least three members, and has been given official approval by the American Collegiate Hockey League.”
In addition, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Delaware, and Stony Brook University will join Syracuse from the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL).
With these four departures, the ESCHL is now comprised of just two remaining programs: the University of Drexel and the University of Rhode Island. At the end of last season, Niagara University announced the program would be competing independently in the ACHA M1 circuit.
Last season, the Orange finished in seventh place with five points in the ESCHL—seven points out of a playoff spot.
“We are excited to make the jump to the ACC for the 2025-2026 season,” head coach Chris Timmons said. “We look forward to playing new opponents in the south while keeping a few of our existing conference rivalries intact. The new conference should provide players the opportunity to play against top teams consistently. We believe this is the right step forward for the future of the program.”
With competitive play commencing for the 2025-2026 season, the ACCHL will divide the eight teams into two divisions: a southern and a northern pool. Syracuse will be placed in the northern division with Delaware, Pittsburgh and Stony Brook. The conference does have plans to add teams and expand its membership before season number one of ACC Hockey gets underway.
The realignment aims to “bring like-minded schools together who are ambitious and progressive in their approach to growing ACHA M1 hockey in the East.”
You can read more about the new realignment on the ACCHL’s website: https://www.acchockey.com/
Contact me:
X: @BKillgore13
Email: bnkillgo@syr.edu
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