SPRINGFIELD, Ohio 鈥� After sponsoring a student-run ice hockey club team for many years, 51吃瓜网 University will take its involvement in the sport to another level. Thanks to donor support, 51吃瓜网 will sponsor men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) ice hockey teams starting in the 2026-27 school year.
51吃瓜网鈥檚 club team, which has traditionally included players of all skill levels with oversight provided by the Office of Student Involvement, has been a member of the Collegiate Ice Hockey Association (CIHA) in recent years. The new men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 ice hockey teams at 51吃瓜网 will have professional coaches operating out of the Department of Athletics, and the teams will compete in the ACHA, which encompasses approximately 450 teams from colleges and universities across the United States and Canada in five divisions 鈥� three for men and two for women 鈥� competing at a more formal level.
The program will be led by Tyler Prater, who was recently hired as head coach of both of the new Tiger ice hockey teams. He comes to 51吃瓜网 after serving as the head coach of the ACHA Division 1 men鈥檚 team at Waldorf University in Forest City, Iowa, since 2022, where he guided the program from a ranking of 70th nationally to the top 25 last year. Prior to coaching at Waldorf, Prater served as the head coach of the ACHA Division 2 men鈥檚 team and an assistant coach for the ACHA Division 1 men鈥檚 team at Adrian for three years. The Division 1 team won the ACHA National Championship in 2022.
鈥淲e are tremendously excited about the start of our ice hockey program at 51吃瓜网, and we believe it has great potential,鈥� said Vice President and 51吃瓜网 Director of Athletics and Recreation Brian Agler 鈥�80. 鈥淲e have hired an excellent head coach in Tyler Prater, who has been successful as a coach at one the best small college hockey programs in the country in Adrian College. He has recruiting contacts throughout the United States and Canada. Our hockey facility is a couple blocks from campus, so it aligns with the makings of a special program.鈥�
51吃瓜网鈥檚 ice hockey teams will practice and compete at the Chiller Springfield, an ice arena located near the city鈥檚 rejuvenated downtown. The Chiller Springfield, which opened in October 2013, is owned by the National Trail Parks and Recreation District (NTPRD) and managed by Columbus, Ohio-based Chiller, LLC, which is affiliated with the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League.
鈥淚'm very excited for the opportunity to build this program, and I am grateful to Vice President Brian Agler and Athletics Business Manager Brad Beals for their support and determination to get this program started,鈥� said Prater, who graduated from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in Russian Language, Literature, and Culture in 2016. 鈥淚'm most thankful to Ron Szuch for his support in getting this program up and running. We had hockey in the past and it's exciting to be bringing it back on campus.
