WWU Hockey in PAC-8 Championship Tournament This Weekend

There's a first time for everything. In only its second year in the PAC-8 Hockey Conference, the WWU Vikings hockey team qualified for the Conference Tournament, which takes place this weekend in South Lake Tahoe, California. The #4 seed Vikings are in Lake Tahoe to square off against the top seed California Golden Bears in the first round matchup today at 4 p.m. If they beat the Bears, the Viks will go on to play the winner of the contest between the #2 Boise State Broncos and the #3 San Diego State Aztecs.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for our current team, but also for the program as a whole," said head coach Larry MacDonald. "While Western's Hockey program dates back to the 1980s, we have been steadily building toward greater degrees of success over the last six seasons, and my coaching staff and I are all very proud of this team for getting this chance to compete for the Conference championship with some of the biggest college hockey programs on the west coast."

Hockey fans can watch this afternoon's 4 p.m. game streaming live on YouTube at the PAC-8 Conference channel: <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw8v2PNs70UrmYctg94tWtw>.

"When I started on this team four years ago, our program wasn't as well-established as it is today," said senior forward Corbin Benson (#7, pictured), an Operations Management major from Everett. "It's amazing to see how our support from the campus community and Bellingham as a whole has grown as our team has improved in this time. I feel really good about where this program is headed."

Western's hockey team joined the PAC-8 Hockey Conference in 2018. Coach MacDonald is joined by Assistant Coaches Riley Gundersen (WWU '17, BS Psychology/BA Communications), and Brian Sibley.

Follow the Vikings on Facebook <@WWUHockey> Instagram <@WWUICEHOCKEY> and Twitter <@WWUHOCKEY> or visit https://wwuhockey.com/

For more information about the 2020 PAC-8 Tournament: http://pac8hockey.com/field-set-for-2020-pac-8-championships/

Founded in 1995, the Pacific 8 Intercollegiate Hockey Conference (PAC-8) is a collegiate men’s ice hockey conference that competes in Division II of the American Collegiate Hockey Association <http://achahockey.org/view/achahockey>.