Erie Ready for Puck to Drop at CHA Tournament

The Erie Sports Commission and Mercyhurst are proud to announce that the 2020-21 CHA Tournament will be hosted at Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, Pa. All six teams will compete for the CHA Championship in Erie with the tournament beginning on March 5.

The announcement comes one week after the NCAA moved the entire women’s hockey tournament to Erie from March 15-21.

“We can truly say Erie will be the home of women’s college hockey in March,” said Director of Athletics Brad Davis. “We are excited to host our conference members in a couple weeks in what should be an extremely competitive conference tournament.”

“As with every decision we’ve made all year long, our move back to a one-week tournament in Erie was made in an effort to ensure the safe and prompt crowning of a champion”, said CHA Commissioner Bob DeGregorio. “Our student-athletes have made plenty of sacrifices to get through the season and we’re looking forward to rewarding them with a full championship experience.”

“We’re honored that College Hockey America has entrusted our group to host its most prestigious event in Erie,” said Mark Jeanneret, executive director of the Erie Sports Commission. “Erie is quickly becoming a hotbed for collegiate hockey, and that is thanks to our great venues and partners in Mercyhurst University. We’re eager to welcome these talented student-athletes to our region in March!”

This will be the first time the CHA Tournament will be hosted at Erie Insurance Arena, and the first time since 2015 that the tournament will take place in Erie. In 2015, the tournament was hosted at the Mercyhurst Ice Center, RIT defeated Syracuse 2-1 in double overtime to win the championship.

The times for the game are still to be determined, however the quarterfinals will be on March 5, with the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth seeds playing the quarterfinals. The semi-finals will take place on March 6 with the lowest remaining seed taking on the number one seed, and the two seed taking on the other remaining team. The CHA Final will be played on March 7 with the two remaining teams facing off.

Mercyhurst defeated Robert Morris 3-2 in the 2020 CHA Championship in Buffalo in overtime. The Lakers have won 13 of 18 CHA Tournaments since the league was founded in 2002.