DULUTH, Minn. – The College of St. Scholastica has announced that it will upgrade women's hockey to varsity status, beginning with the 2010-11 school year and will be part of the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA).

The CSS women's hockey club team was started in 2001. The Saints then became part of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) in 2006, winning the Division II National Championship in 2007 and a runner-up finish last month.

“Women's hockey is a natural fit for the college, based on our geographic location, the strength of regional high school programs, the visibility of our men's hockey program and the success of the college's women's ACHA, Division II team,” CSS Athletics Director Don Olson said. “The addition of a women's hockey program to the school's roster of intercollegiate athletics programs allows us to create an increased balance between men's and women's programs.”

The Saints will join the NCHA, the same conference as the CSS men's team. The league added Adrian College (Mich.), Marian University (Wis.), and St. Norbert College in the past four months. St. Scholastica will be the 11th school in the NCHA Women's Division.

“We are excited to be part of the rapid growth of women's hockey in the NCHA,” Olson said. “It is a logical decision for the College of St. Scholastica to join the league with our women's hockey program given our long history of Saints men's hockey in the conference.”

Adrian and Marian will begin play next season, while the Saints and St. Norbert will hit the NCHA ice at the start of the 2010-11 season.

"We are most happy to welcome the College of St Scholastica to our Women's Division as we continue the growth of women's hockey in our conference,” said NCHA Commissioner Bill Kronschnabel.

This will be the fourth year of expansion for the conference. Previous league expansions included Finlandia (Mich.) in 2003 and Concordia-Wisconsin in 2007. The original members of the Women's Division, opening play in 2000, were Lake Forest, UW-Eau Claire, UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Superior.

The women's team will practice and play its games at Mars Lakeview Arena, the same facility that the CSS men's team currently uses.

St. Scholastica will conduct a national search for a head coach immediately with the timeline of having someone in place by the start of the 2009-10 school year.