Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League

The Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League (WWCHL) is an American Collegiate Hockey Association Women's Division 1 club level hockey-only college athletic conference for women's hockey teams. It is one of four ACHA Women's Division 1 conferences, along with the Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association, Women's Midwest College Hockey, and the Eastern Collegiate Women's Hockey League. The league has a large footprint spreading across the western United States, featuring members in Arizona, Colorado and Utah.

Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League

Conference	ACHA
Founded	2014
Commissioner	Lindsey Ellis
Sports fielded	Ice Hockey
Division	Women's Division 1
No. of teams	6
Region	West
Official website	https://www.wwchl.com/
Locations

Among the ten members the conference has hosted, both Minnesota (2013) and Wisconsin (2002 and 2004) won ACHA national championships prior to joining the WWCHL, while Colorado and Colorado State also have lengthy histories pre-dating the conference's creation. The rest of the league roster, however, consists of newer programs, largely in emerging hockey locales. Denver began play, as the WWCHL itself did, for the 2014–15 season. Arizona State started its program in 2016–17^[1] while Grand Canyon and the University of Utah did so in 2017–18 and 2019–20, respectively.^[2]

Current membership

Institution	Location	Nickname	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Colors	Primary Facility
Arizona State University	Tempe, Arizona	Sun Devils	1885	Public	51,585	Maroon and Gold^[3]	Oceanside Ice Arena
University of Colorado	Boulder, Colorado	Buffaloes	1876	Public	35,528	Silver, Black and Gold^[4]	CU Recreation Center
Colorado State University	Fort Collins, Colorado	Rams	1870	Public	33,877	Green and Gold	Edora Pool Ice Center
University of Denver	Denver, Colorado	Pioneers	1864	Private	11,614	Crimson and Gold^[5]	Joy Burns Ice Arena
Grand Canyon University	Phoenix, Arizona	Antelopes	1949	Private/Christian	20,500	Purple, Black and White^[6]	AZ Ice Arcadia
University of Utah	Salt Lake City, Utah	Utes	1850	Public	32,994	Red, Silver and Black	SLC Sports Complex

Membership timeline

Playoff championship game results

Year	Champion	Score	Runner-Up	Location
2015	Minnesota	3–2 (OT)^[7]	Colorado State	Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
2016	Lindenwood–Belleville	2–1	Colorado	Boulder, Colorado
2017	Minnesota	2–1^[8]	Colorado	Tempe, Arizona
2018	Colorado	5–2^[9]	Minnesota	Fremont, Nebraska
2019	Midland	3–2 (2OT)^[10]	Colorado	Las Vegas, Nevada
2020	Colorado	5–1^[11]	Arizona State	Salt Lake City, Utah

Regular season champions

• 2014–15 Colorado State
• 2015–16 Lindenwood–Belleville
• 2016–17 Lindenwood–Belleville
• 2017–18 Colorado
• 2018–19 Colorado
• 2019–20 Colorado

ACHA National Tournament appearances

Appearances made while a WWCHL member.

School	Appearances	Years	Championships
Lindenwood–Belleville	3	2016, 2017, 2018	None
Minnesota	3	2015, 2017, 2018	None
Colorado	2	2018, 2020	None
Midland	1	2019	None

World University Games selections

Since 2011, the American Collegiate Hockey Association has supplied players for the United States team at the World University Games women's hockey tournament, held biennially and as part of the multi-sport event for college and university student-athletes.

Year	Location	Player	School	Result
2015^[12]	Granada, Spain	Molly O'Neil	Colorado State	Fifth Place
		Whitney Thomas	Colorado
2017^[13]	Almaty, Kazakhstan	Jordan Anderson	Minnesota	Bronze Medal
		Kathleen Ash	Colorado
		Alexandra Brown	Lindenwood–Belleville
		Leah MacArthur	Colorado
		Lyndsay Oden	Minnesota
		Becca Senden	Minnesota
		Livia Twohig	Minnesota
2019^[14]	Krasnoyarsk, Russia	Kathleen Ash	Colorado	Fourth Place

Notable ACHA award winners

Year	Winner	School	Award
2014–15^[15]	Kelsey Brown	Colorado	Community Playmaker
2014–15	Emera Danos	Colorado	Off-Ice MVP
2015–16	Katherine Hannah	Lindenwood–Belleville	Coach of the Year
2018–19	Jason White	Midland	Coach of the Year
2018–19	Kenzie Bertolas	Midland	Off-Ice MVP

See also

• American Collegiate Hockey Association
• Arizona State University Sun Devils Division 1 Women's Ice Hockey
• Lindenwood–Belleville Lynx women's ice hockey
• List of ice hockey leagues

External links

• Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League
• Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League Facebook page
• Arizona State Women's Hockey
• Colorado Women's Hockey
• Colorado State Women's Hockey
• Denver Women's Hockey
• Grand Canyon Women's Hockey

References

1. Modrich, Stefan (August 16, 2015). "ASU to add women's club hockey in 2016". The State Press. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
2. "ACHA approves Utah for Women's Division 1 team". universityofutahhockey.com. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
3. "W.P. Carey Brand Book" (PDF). May 28, 2015. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
4. "Typography/Color". University of Colorado Boulder. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
5. University of Denver Brand: Visual Guide (PDF). Retrieved April 16, 2016.
6. "Brand Standards | Media & Branding | Grand Canyon University". Grand Canyon University. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
7. "Championship Game Result". Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League. February 22, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
8. "Championship Game Result". Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League. February 27, 2017. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
9. "Championship Game Result". Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League. February 25, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
10. "Midland University - No. 12 Warriors Win WWCHL Title; Clinch Berth to Nationals". www.midlandathletics.com. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
11. "Arizona State University vs University of Colorado: 1-5". pointstreak.com. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
12. "2015 U.S. Women's National University Team Announced". usawomenshockey.com. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
13. "2017 U.S. Women's National Univ. Team Unveiled". teamusa.usahockey.com. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
14. "2019 WWUG Roster". usahockey.com. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
15. "Past Awards". American Collegiate Hockey Association. Retrieved May 17, 2017.