Chris Lerch

Chris Lerch has been writing for USCHO since 1999, first as D-III columnist, then covering Atlantic Hockey for the past 19 seasons.

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Canisius, Holy Cross gearing up for winner-take-all conference title game Saturday with NCAA tournament berth on line

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For the last 17 years that I have been covering Atlantic Hockey for USCHO, this final column of the season has looked forward to a championship weekend that involved four teams converging on a single, neutral location. Things have changed. The new format adopted by the league this season creates a one-game, winner-takes-all championship, hosted … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Down to final four in conference postseason with semifinals on tap this weekend

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And then there were four in the quest for the Riley Cup. Last weekend’s Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals saw three of the four series go the distance, with two lower seeds advancing: – Rochester Institute of Technology swept Mercyhurst in a pair of tight games. The Tigers got the game-winner from Adam Jeffery on Friday with … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Looking at upcoming conference quarterfinal playoffs as postseason arrives

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When the dust settled on the 2022-23 Atlantic Hockey regular season, no tiebreakers were necessary for determining the final standings/seedings, as each team ended with a unique point total. The end result: 1. Rochester Institute of Technology 2. American International 3. Sacred Heart 4. Canisius 5. Army West Point 6. Niagara 7. Holy Cross 8. … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: With postseason approaching, leaving out two teams ‘not a level playing field’

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After 15 years of holding the semifinals and finals of the Atlantic Hockey tournament at neutral sites, the conference is moving all tournament games on campus this season. The format will be as follows: Quarterfinals March 3-5 Best-of-three series #8 seed at #1 seed #7 seed at #2 seed #6 seed at #3 seed #5 … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: As regular season winding down, Canisius has ‘roster of players that say they’re ready’ for upcoming challenges

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A massive snowstorm hit Buffalo back on Dec 23-24, shutting the city down for days. That prevented Canisius from flying to Air Force for a two-game series scheduled for Dec. 30-31. With no free weekends left for either school, much less the same one for both, Atlantic Hockey was faced with choosing the least terrible … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: New commissioner Morgan says new job is ‘a great opportunity’ as hockey ‘has always been my first love’

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On Feb 2. Atlantic Hockey announced the selection of Michelle Morgan as its new commissioner, beginning April 17. She will succeed Bob DeGregorio, who is retiring after 20 years at the helm, dating back to the foundation of the conference. She will also replace DeGregorio as the commissioner of the women’s College Hockey America conference. … Read more

Monday 10: Quinnipiac takes season series from Harvard, tight Big Ten standings, Western Michigan on roll, Beanpot on tap

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Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature. 1) Bobcats over Crimson in key ECAC battle In one of the most anticipated games of the weekend, second-ranked Quinnipiac shut out No. 8 Harvard, 3-0 on Friday at Bright-Landry Hockey Center. The Bobcats were led by … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: After sluggish first half, Bentley picking up pace since holidays with stretch drive approaching

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Bentley coach Ryan Soderquist knew that his young team would need some time to gel. With nine freshmen in the lineup, he expected growing pains, and the Falcons’ record though the first half of the season reflected that. At Christmas, Bentley was 5-13-0 and had taken points in two of five conference series. But since … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: With Air Force continuing to struggle with consistency, injuries, Falcons focusing on attitude, work ethic

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Last weekend’s series between Air Force and Niagara brought some good news and bad news for the Falcons. The good news was that Frank Serratore’s team was able to snap a nine-game losing streak on Friday when the offense came to life in a 6-3 win over the Purple Eagles. While that outburst included two … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Sacred Heart’s new Martire Family Arena has successful first game, includes ‘an elevated fan experience’

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In 2007, I attended my first Sacred Heart game as part of Rochester Institute of Technology’s radio broadcasting crew. The game was played at SHU’s home rink at the time, the Milford Ice Pavilion. The place, to be kind, wasn’t up to the standards of a Division I Hockey program. In 2016, SHU upgraded and … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Dawning on retirement as conference commissioner, DeGregorio reflects on accomplishments over years

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Last April, Atlantic Hockey commissioner Bob DeGregorio announced that this season, his 20th, would be his last at the helm. He will also retire as commissioner of the College Hockey America women’s conference, which he has led for 13 years. At age 76, and after 40 years in college athletics, DeGregorio said that it was … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Handing out midterm awards, plus asking key questions as second half of 2022-23 season gets underway

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In the last Atlantic Hockey column, we handed out midterm grades for each Atlantic Hockey team. As we head into the second semester, what players are in the running to make the dean’s list? Here are my midterm awards. Will things change before the league names the actual winners in March? They sure will. But … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Handing out mid-term grades to all 10 conference teams at 2022 holiday break

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With the first half of the Atlantic Hockey season in the books, let’s hand out some mid-term grades: Air Force (6-10-2, 2-7-1 AHA) Atlantic Hockey Standings: Ninth Points Per Game: 0.70 (Ninth) PairWise Ranking: 55 The Lowdown: The Falcons have some quality wins, including over Colorado College and RIT. But they’ve dropped five in a … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: After lethargic start, Army West Point making point to be team that’s ‘hard to play against’

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The first half of Army West Point’s 2022-23 season came in two parts, according to coach Brian Riley. And his team needed to go through some rough times in Part One to get to Part Two. “I saw somewhere that we have the second-youngest team in college hockey,” said Riley, in his 19th year behind … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Sluggish first half of ’22-23 season has Holy Cross hungry to turn around fortunes for second-half run

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There have been some growing pains for Holy Cross in the first half of this season. A challenging schedule has meant more losses than wins so far, but the consistency that coach Bill Riga has been looking for is starting to emerge. “We’ve been up and down, especially early in the season,” Riga said. “We’ve … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Riding four-game winning streak, Mercyhurst aiming to keep momentum going through end of 2022

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Mercyhurst wasn’t getting a lot of puck luck earlier in the season. Coach Rick Gotkin, in his 35th season behind the Lakers’ bench, felt that his squad was better than its 1-9-2 record indicated. “I think that our early record said as much about our opponents as it did about us,” he said. “We played … Read more

Monday 10: Cornell takes Frozen Apple win, Arizona State splits with Minnesota, LIU gets first victory over ranked team

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Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature. 1) Quinnipiac first in Friendship Four Fans in Belfast were treated to some exciting college hockey over the weekend in the sixth edition of the Friendship Four Tournament, played for the first time since 2019. Only one … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Robert Morris prepping for return in ’23-24 with Colonials planning to be ‘even better’ than before

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It’s been a strange couple of years for Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley. On May 26, 2021, with no warning, RMU’s president and board announced that effective immediately, it was canceling their men’s and women’s hockey programs. Coaches, players, alumni, and fans were in shock. But quickly, Schooley helped lead a massive effort to restore … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: After sweeping conference favorite AIC, Canisius moving forward ‘changing our lineup a fair amount, looking for some chemistry’

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For a league where sweeps have historically been hard to come by and splits are the norm, so far this season it’s been feast or famine in conference series in Atlantic Hockey. There have been 15 conference series so far, with nine ending in sweeps. Another three series saw one team take five of six … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Sacred Heart hoping ‘incredible feat’ of three goals in 21 seconds against Mercyhurst is springboard for more victories

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I had the chance recently to talk to Pierre-Luc O’Brien, who starred for Sacred Heart from 2004 to 2008. O’Brien was a three-time Atlantic Hockey all-star as well as a Hobey Baker finalist. He holds the school’s record for career points (156). When asked about his favorite college hockey memory, O’Brien related the “Miracle at … Read more