Before the division’s 30th season, the Super East Collegiate Hockey League (SECHL) is set to merge with the Upstate New York Collegiate Hockey League (UNYCHL), the ACHA (American Collegiate Hockey Association) announced on Feb. 26. Marist Club Hockey will have new opponents moving forward in the Upstate New York area.
The UNYCHL consists of almost 40 teams in the Upstate New York area and spans three divisions of AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) college hockey. Niagara University, Binghamton, Buffalo, St. Bonaventure, Cornell and Cortland are set to join the division this season, alongside other teams currently applying for ACHA status.
Seeking more diversity and opportunity, many UNYCHL teams have lobbied for the merger believing AAU didn’t provide them with the opportunity they wanted. With the SECHL looking for teams to replace the division’s loss of teams in recent years, both UNYCHL Commissioner John Marchese and SECHL Commissioner Rob Martinez felt it was a match made in heaven.
“These guys wanted something new and didn’t see AAU going anywhere,” said Marchese, “I reached out to [Martinez] and knew he had six teams and wanted to expand on it.”
“We saw it as a good opportunity with the upstate N.Y. area since we already have [Clarkson] there,” said Martinez. “We thought it was a good idea to shift focus to that geographic area.”
The SECHL has shrunk in competition recently, going down to only six teams this season, two short of the required eight to earn an auto bid to ACHA Regionals. If the winner of the SECHL was not ranked there would be a struggle to qualify for regionals because they could only earn an at-large bid. With the merger, the division winner does not have to worry about at-large bids.
The SECHL will feature two divisions: The Upstate Division, which consists of the new teams joining, and the Eastern Division, made up of all current SECHL teams. Martinez and Marchese have also discussed arranging a showcase of four to five teams from each division to impact regional rankings.
Each division has its own playoff, and the overall top four teams from each division will play for an SECHL title.
The new competition brings increased talent to the division. Both commissioners and teams have expressed excitement at the opportunity and believe that the new SECHL can have great representation at the regional tournament.
“We put this vote out in November and it was a unanimous 6-0 vote to do it,” said Marchese. “My guys all saw the opportunity and wanted to be apart of this.”
Like most other teams involved, Marist Club Hockey is excited about the merger and feels ready to see how they stack up to new challenges.
“I think it’s pretty cool how we’re merging all these teams, and it’s pretty good competition,” said sophomore forward Jonathan Martirano, “It’ll be exciting to see how next year plays out.”
With the merger, the team has less room for error as not everyone qualifies for the playoffs. With a full year under coaches Anthony LoBianco and Tristen Schoberle, the team is ready to give everything they have against new challenges.
“Not everyone gets a bid to playoffs, so it becomes more nerve-racking and you get that every game matters mentality,” said Schoberle. “But maybe we need that, I think everyone’s going to be gripping their sticks a little harder knowing that if we slip up we don’t have that automatic playoff.”
Edited by Marley Pope
Photo by Jaylen Rizzo
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X, TikTok, and Bluesky. Sign up to receive daily alerts here.