From Jamestown Sun
By Maxwell O’Neill
One day after the University of Jamestown men’s hockey team announced their arrival to a conference, the women’s hockey team is set to join the Women’s Midwest College Hockey Conference. The team will join the conference in its inaugural season in 2022-23.
The team will join Liberty University, Maryville University, Lindenwood University, McKendree University, Midland University, the University of Minnesota, and Minot State University.
In the most recent American Collegiate Hockey Association Division I ranking, the WMCH has placed six teams in the top 10.
“It’s exciting to be joining the top conference out of the gate,” Schaack said.
Jimmies head coach Amber Schaack is currently putting together a roster ahead of their opening night in the fall of 2022. Schaack’s roster is taking shape with 13 players.
Jimmies Athletic Director Sean Johnson is hoping that the Jimmies joining the WMCH will help with recruiting.
“Amber, our head coach, is doing an incredible job. You look at the student-athletes that she has already recruited for next year, it’s exciting,” Johnson said. “To be a part of a framework, to be a part of a conference, to have a conference championship is really important.”
The team joining the conference has been in the works since the program began, Schaack said.
“Sean did a great job of figuring a lot of that stuff out before I was hired, but yes it was definitely a goal of ours to secure a spot in that league,” Schaack said.
The Jimmies will not be playing an official conference schedule as a member of the WMCH. The conference also does not have an automatic bid from the regular-season champion. The conference tournament involves all eight teams in the conference and the winner gets an automatic bid to the national tournament.
(Originally published at https://www.jamestownsun.com/sports/7272323-Breaking-Jimmies-womens-hockey-set-to-join-WMCH-in-2022-23)
