CCC To Administer Women’s Ice Hockey Starting In 2020-21

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Board of Directors is pleased to announce that the CCC will begin to oversee women's ice hockey as a championship sport beginning in 2020-21. The CCC will assume operation of a renamed Colonial Hockey Conference (CHC).

The addition of women's ice hockey brings the Conference's championship sport sponsorship to 19. The sport will be the fourth addition to the conference's championship slate in the past five years. Previous additions include the 2017-18 sponsorship of women's track and field and CCC Football (absorbing operations of the New England Football Conference (NEFC)), plus adding men's ice hockey in 2016-17.

"I am so pleased that the CCC will be adding women's ice hockey to the championship sport offerings under the conference umbrella," said CCC Commissioner Gregg M. Kaye. "The presidents at each of the CCC member institutions greatly value the role that intercollegiate athletics plays in enhancing the undergraduate experience of our student-athletes. Our presidents and athletic directors have worked diligently to expand the quality competition synonymous with the CCC brand. Adding women's icehockey to our inventory of sport offerings is a natural step in continuing our recent pattern of growth."

The addition of women's ice hockey was perpetuated by two big announcements within the conference – the addition of Suffolk to the league membership and current CCC member Western New England announcing it would be starting a varsity program in 2020-21.

"The addition of Suffolk University as our tenth full member and the establishment of the new varsity program at Western New England have been key additions for the CCC," added Kaye. "As a result of these additions, our conference is able to provide our women's hockey student-athletes with the same CCC championship opportunity as their peers in 18 other sports."

"We were thrilled to become members of the Commonwealth Coast Conference in an agreement that was made this summer and we're very excited of the addition of women's hockey to the league's ranks," said Suffolk Athletic Director Cary McConnell. "With the ever-changing landscape of conference affiliation in Division Three, we believe it is in the best interest of our student-athletes, who have enjoyed tremendous success academically and athletically, to continue to pursue excellence through membership in the CCC."

In addition to the 15 sports in which Suffolk will be competing for CCC Championships, the Rams also sponsor women's golf, men's and women's indoor track and field, and men's outdoor track. Their additional sport offerings will help the league get closer to providing additional CCC Championship opportunities for its student-athletes, especially in men's track. 

McConnnell continued, "The opportunity for all of our teams to share in the excitment of competing for a conference crown is a department goal, and this move takes us one important step closer."

"The formation of the CCC for women's hockey provides us with some truly great conference opponents," head coach Taylor Wasylk said. "We could not be more excited to join their ranks and get things started next season."

Prior to those news items, there were four CCC full members with women's ice hockey programs, allcompeting in the CHC. They were Endicott, Nichols, Salve Regina, and the University of New England.Suffolk and WNE will become the league's fifth and sixth members. Becker, the only remaining non-CCC member of the league, will remain in the rebranded conference as an associate. The Hawks are alreadyCCC associate members in men's ice hockey and football.

As a seven-team league, the conference will retain the automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Championship.