As the second semester is upon us, the Lions are entering the stretch run of the season, which culminates with the WCHC Playoffs in February.
The D2 Lions hold a 14-4-2 record from the Fall semester, and are currently ranked 9th in the ACHA West. While the Lions are looking to move back up the rankings, they’ll have a strong schedule in the second half. The team opens the semester by hosting University of Washington twice at home, and then will travel to Colorado for the Big Mountain Showcase, which will pair the Lions up with 3 teams from out of region, and the University of Colorado in four games over four days. The Lions will come home to play Fullerton and UCLA away, and finish their regular season on February 1st against UCLA in our senior night. Following this, the Lions have qualified for the WCHC playoffs, and will look to win their second conference title. The Lions will need to stay in the top 12 to qualify for ACHA West regionals, but expect to move back up the rankings and have that spot solidified before the WCHC playoffs. ACHA Regionals will be held in Westminster, Colorado in February.
The D3 Lions hold a 8-5 record from their first ACHA semester. Looking to turn it around in the second semester, the Lions will start in Chicago at the Northwestern Showcase where they’ll face Indiana, Loyola Chicago, and then face Northwestern in an outdoor game. When they return, the Lions will face Irvine twice and finish up with a game at Long Beach. Having fallen in the rankings in the past few weeks, the Lions will need a big semester to move back up. While the team has qualified for the WCHC playoffs already, which will take place at The Cube in Santa Clarita in February, the team will look to move up to the top 25 in order to be able to win the league Auto-Bid should they win the WCHC playoffs.
Both teams have big semesters upcoming, hope you’ll join us for the fun final months of the season.