Sunday, July 13, 2025

W&M Hockey Wins Third ACCHL Championship

William & Mary Tribe hockey brought home a third ACCHL championship late last month (Tribe Hockey)

WILLIAMSBURG — The defending champs of the Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League are bringing the trophy back to William & Mary for the second straight season after securing a 4-3 victory against the Citadel.

Tribe Hockey is a Division 3 club program competing in the Virginia Division of the Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League (ACCHL), playing against universities in the Mid-Atlantic region, from Maryland to South Carolina.

The Tribe saw a huge incoming freshman class for its 2024-25 campaign, and with hopes of competing at a higher level, head coach Adam Barger arranged to play as many high-caliber teams as possible.

“We had a big group of new players coming in that really could give us some depth. We wanted to move to Division 2 this year but we weren’t able to because we weren’t sure that we were going to have the goalie that we needed. We stayed Division 3 and ended up with two great goalies on our team. We competed as our Division 3 team, but we played as many Division 2 teams as we could,” Barger said.

Facing off against the likes of Christopher Newport, James Madison, Richmond and George Mason, the Tribe compiled a 14-2 regular season record, finishing first in the division and entering the playoff picture as the number one seed.

After a first round bye, Tribe Hockey advanced in a tough Johns Hopkins matchup that came down to a single goal. The championship game against second-seeded Citadel was a highly competitive affair that went shot for shot.

“In hockey, the most dangerous team to play is the underdog. Two years ago, we knocked Citadel out of the semifinals in an overtime game and the players at Citadel remembered that. It was truly a championship game like I’ve never seen before. It was a one-for-one match. We would score, they would score. We’d score again and feel really good and then they would score and it would be a brand new game. We never had more than a goal lead and at the end of 60 minutes, it was 3-3,” Barger said.

With regulation over, a sudden death four-on-four, 10-minute overtime period began. It ultimately took three overtime periods for the Tribe to earn the victory.

“It was stressful. We knew that one bad tip, one bad bounce of the puck and this game was over. In the third overtime, we got a penalty and had to play a man down. The winning goal was a shorthanded goal, and to make it even sweeter, it was scored by our captain, who is a senior. He got to live that storybook moment that every hockey player dreams of, scoring that sudden death goal in their last game. It was just so poetic,” Barger said.

Jared Kensick was named MVP. (Tribe Hockey)

In his seventh season at the helm, Barger has seen it all.

“I’ve seen the whole range of success from being dead last to being first place, to winning these championships, so it’s been a really, really interesting ride,” Barger said.

With the victory in the books, Barger celebrated alongside his team, but also reminded them that their character off the ice says a lot more than any championship will.

“We talk a lot about being good people. I always emphasize that if you are good people and good teammates, the wins come from that. They won this game because they were a team. You don’t become a team to just win games. They won games because they came together and acted like a team and played together,” Barger said.

Beginning in 2026, Tribe Hockey will move up to compete in the ACCHL Division 2A league, a challenge that Barger believes his team is ready for.

“We’re going division two next year and I want to be right back on that championship ice and to do it all over again,” Barger said.

For more information on Tribe hockey, visit tribehockey.com.

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