Atlantic Hockey America embarks on its second season in 2025-26. After a merger between the Atlantic Hockey Association and College Hockey America following the 2023-24 season, Atlantic Hockey America enters the 2025-26 season with 17 programs across 14 member institutions.

Atlantic Hockey spans a total of seven states, reaching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains. The conference fields 10 men's programs (Bentley University, Canisius University, The College of Holy Cross, Mercyhurst University, Niagara University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Robert Morris University, Sacred Heart University, the United State Air Force Academy, and the United States Military Academy), and seven women's programs (University of Delaware, Lindenwood University, Mercyhurst University, Penn State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Robert Morris University, and Syracuse University).

Atlantic Hockey America is led by commissioner Michelle Morgan, who enters her third season in 2025-26. In her first year, Morgan led the merger between the Atlantic Hockey Association and College Hockey America.

League History

College Hockey America (CHA) formed in the fall of 2002 with four teams – Findlay (Ohio), Mercyhurst and Wayne State (Mich.) from the Great Lakes Women’s Hockey Association and Niagara from the ECAC.

In the league’s first year of competition, 2002-03, each member played two games against each of the other conference schools. Mercyhurst won the regular-season title with a 6-0 record. The Lakers continued on to win the first-ever CHA postseason tournament, held at the City Sports Center Arena in Detroit, with victories over Wayne State and Findlay.

The 2025-26 season will be the second as Atlantic Hockey America. Seven women's teams compete for the regular season championship, followed by the AHA postseason tournament in the spring.

Membership

The league has seen several changes in membership since 2002. Mercyhurst is the lone remaining original member. Findlay dropped women’s ice hockey after the 2003-04 season and was replaced in the CHA by Quinnipiac, which played the previous season as a Division I independent. The Bobcats played one year in CHA before joining their men’s team in the ECAC. Robert Morris replaced Quinnipiac prior to the 2005-06 season to keep membership at four. 

Syracuse was added as a fifth member for the 2008-09 season, and the league schedule increased to 16 games, four head-to-head games against each of the other members.

In that season the conference tournament also expanded to a three-day event for the first time in league history. The league dropped back to four members when Wayne State dropped women’s hockey prior to the 2010-11 season. 

Former commissioner Robert DeGregorio oversaw another period of transition, ushering in three new members, Lindenwood, Penn State and RIT, for the start of the 2012-13 season. Niagara dropped women’s ice hockey during the same offseason, leaving the league with six members.

Robert Morris, winners of three CHA regular season crowns, saw its program eliminated by the university following the 2020-21 campaign, dropping league membership to five institutions for the 2021-22. RMU reinstated its program on Dec. 2021 and will return to competition in the CHA in 2023-24 to bring the active membership back to six teams. 

The University of Delaware joined in 2024-25, and the 2025-26 season will be the first for the Blue Hens at the Division I level.
 
Regular Season and Postseason Titles

Mercyhurst has been the CHA’s top regular season program, winning 14 regular season outright titles and one shared regular season crown (Wayne State. 2007-08) from 2002-03 through 2015-16 and adding a 15th crown in 2019-20. Robert Morris won three-consecutive titles from 2016-17 through 2018-19. Penn State has won four of the last five titles in 2020-21, 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25. Syracuse captured its first CHA regular season crown in 2021-22.
 
Mercyhurst has also won 13-of-23 post-season tournaments (2003-2011, 2016, 2018, 2020). While Robert Morris captured three tournament titles during its time in the league (2012, 2017, 2021). Other postseason winners include RIT (2014, 2015), Syracuse (2019, 2021) and Penn State (2023, 2024, 2025).

Mercyhurst earned the league’s first NCAA tournament bid in 2005, the first of 10-consecutive bids for the Lakers (2005-2014). MU reached four Frozen Fours in that span (2009, 2010, 2013, 2014) and played for the national championship in 2009. The 10-straight appearances marked the first time a team reached the women’s tournament in 10 consecutive seasons.

Mercyhurst also appeared in the 2016 and 2018 NCAA tournaments and earned the league’s automatic berth in 2020 before that tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 shutdown. Robert Morris (2017, 2021), Syracuse (2019, 2022) and Penn State (2023, 2024, 2025) have also represented the CHA/AHA in the NCAA Tournament.

Player Recognition

The conference’s prominence on a national stage has been cemented by the accomplishments and accolades accumulated by College Hockey America and Atlantic Hockey America players.

In 2005, Mercyhurst goaltender Desi Clark became the first CHA player to earn Patty Kazmaier Award Top-10 finalist status after backstopping the Lakers to their first NCAA Tournament appearance. 

Two years later, in 2007, Mercyhurst’s Meghan Agosta became the first CHA player to be named a Top-3 finalist for the Patty Kaz. Agosta go on to finish in the top three in voting in all four of her collegiate seasons. The four-straight top-three finishes put Agosta in an exclusive club with Minnesota’s Hannah Brandt, Minnesota Duluth’s Maria Rooth and Harvard’s Angela Ruggiero as the only four-time Top-10 finalists in Patty Kaz history.

In 2008, Wayne State’s Melissa Boal was also a Top-10 finalist for the Patty Kaz along with Agosta. The same season, College Hockey America claimed the top four scorers in the nation in terms of points per game in Boal (2.16), Agosta (1.97), and Wayne State’s Sam Poyton (1.94) and Lindsay DiPietro (1.88). Agosta led the nation with 40 goals and seven shorthanded markers, while DiPietro had an NCAA-best 48 assists.

In 2009, Agosta led the NCAA in points per game (2.44/78 in 32 games), goals per game (1.28/41 in 32 games), assists per game (1.16/37 in 32 games) and game-winning goals (10), while finishing second nationally with 14 power-play goals.

In 2009-10, Mercyhurst’s Vicki Bendus became the first CHA player to win the Patty Kazmaier Award, tallying 65 points on 28 goals and 37 assists in 36 games as the Lakers reached their second-consecutive Frozen Four. Teammate Jesse Scanzano was also a Top-10 finalist that season.

College Hockey America again claimed two of the top-10 finalists for the 2011 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award -in Bendus and Agosta, who became a top-three finalist for the fourth time in her collegiate career. 

Agosta had returned to Mercyhurst for her senior campaign that season after taking a year off to train and compete for Canada in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, where she won her second gold medal. Agosta led the nation in points per game (2.53) and total assists (48) and was third in total goals (38) in 34 games for the Lakers.

That same season, Robert Morris senior Whitney Pappas was a finalist for the Hockey Humanitarian Award. The Hockey Humanitarian Award is awarded annually to college hockey’s finest citizen and seeks to recognize college hockey players at all levels who give back to their communities in the true humanitarian spirit. 

Mercyhurst forward Bailey Bram was a top-10 finalist for the 2012 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. Bram finished second in the nation in points per game (2.12) and first in power play goals with 12 in 32 games. Mercyhurst had a top 10 finalist for the award every season from 2007-12. 

Mercyhurst’s Christine Bestland was named a finalist for the 2014 Patty Kazmaier Award. The Lakers’ senior captain recorded 20 goals and 30 assists in the regular season, leading the Lakers to the regular season title.

Robert Morris forward Brittany Howard became RMU’s first Patty Kazmaier Award Top-10 finalist in 2018 as she led the Colonials to the second of three-consecutive CHA regular season titles.

Penn State forward Kiara Zanon became the latest CHA player to earn Patty Kaz recognition when she was tabbed a Top-10 finalist in 2021 as the Nittany Lions went on to capture their first CHA regular season crown.

Zanon also earned the CHA’s 12th All-America honor in 2020-21. She joins Mercyhurst’s Desi Clark (2004-05), Meghan Agosta (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10), Vicki Bendus (2009-10), Jesse Scanzano (2009-10) and Christine Bestland (2013-14), Niagara’s Allison Rutledge (2006-07), Robert Morris’ Brittany Howard (2017-18) and Wayne State’s Melissa Boal (2007-08).

Penn State's Tessa Janecke earned back-to-back All-American honors in 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Alumni in the Olympics and International Competition

Ten former CHA players have appeared in the Winter Olympics since the league’s founding. 

Four-time CHA Player of the Year Meghan Agosta earned her third Olympic gold medal for Canada at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Agosta also competed in the 2006, 2010 and 2018 Games for Team Canada.

Former Robert Morris player and assistant coach Brianne McLaughlin earned a pair of silver medal with Team USA in 2010 and 2014 while former Lindenwood netminder Nicole Hensley brought home gold and silver medals with Team USA in 2018 and 2022.

Other CHA alumni who have skated for their home countries in the Olympics include Penn State’s Jessic Adolfsson (Sweden- 2022), Mercyhurst’s Bailey Bram (Canada- 2018), Robert Morris’ Anna Fairman (China- 2022), Aneta Ledlova (Czech Republic- 2022) and Meeri Räisänen (Finland- 2014, 2018, 2022) and Syracuse’s Akane Hosoyamada (Japan- 2018, 2022) and Stefanie Marty (Switzerland- 2006, 2010, 2014).

Numerous current and former CHA players have also competed in IIHF World Championships and U18 World Championships over the years. A pair of 2022-23 freshmen joined that list over the summer when Syracuse signee Rhéa Hicks (Canada) and Penn State newcomer Tessa Janecke (United States) competed in the 2022 U18 World Championship in Madison, Wisc.