After announcing the move to Division II earlier this year, Arkansas Hockey is proud to announce the program will also be fielding a team at the Division III level in 2024-25. The Division II team will compete in the Gold division of their current MACHA conference and in the Central Region of the ACHA. The Division III team will compete as an Independent in their first season before rejoining the MACHA Silver division in 2025-26.

2024-25 will mark the first season of competition at the ACHA Division II level in the programs history. In addition to their gauntlet of a schedule in the deep MACHA, the team will take the ice with some of the top teams in the country at this level. Head Coach Keller Sims had this to say when he was asked about how he felt about the new challenge: “Obviously we are very excited about the move. It has been on our radar for a few years, and we knew with how young we were last season and the trajectory of our program, that we were in a good place to make the jump”. When asked about how he feels they will match up he added: ” I think we will surprise a lot of people. We have a lot of talent returning that could of played at that level last season. We have been really active in recruiting and I feel really good about our incoming players. I see us starting with a lot of energy and competition at camp, and hopefully that roles into a hot start for us”.

Historically the program has competed at the Division III level since its inaugural season in 2007. Though the team will continue to compete at the Division III level, it will be the teams first as an Independent since they joined the SECHC in 2009 and moved to the MACHA in 2021. “It’s an interesting outlook for sure. We always pushed to make and win our conference championship. Ultimately it made the most sense to compete as an Independent for the teams first year for scheduling purposes” Coach Sims had to say when asked about not competing in the MACHA. With nine appearances in the National Tournament, and six in the last seven years, Arkansas Hockey has built a reputation of a power house at the D III level. For an outlook on next season, Coach Sims simply had this to say: “The team will be good, we wouldn’t of made this decision if we didn’t feel we could continue to compete for National Championships every year. My goal is for them to be in the tournament every season, and that doesn’t change now”.

The team plans to announce more news over the course of the summer including the Division III Head Coach and both teams full coaching staffs, scheduling updates, fundraisers, jersey and apparel sales, and more. Keep your eye on the teams social media pages and website for more information as we get closer to the 2024-25 season!