American International to reclassify as Division II beginning with 2025-26 college hockey season

Eric Lang is in his 13th season behind the AIC bench (USCHO file photo).

American International informed players earlier today that it will end its Division I program at the end of this season and field a Division II team starting next year.

Coach Eric Lang confirmed this via a text to USCHO, as well as posting the following on X:

AIC, a Division II school, has been Division I in hockey since 1998, when it moved the program to D-I and joined the MAAC, which eventually became Atlantic Hockey.

The Yellow Jackets have had recent success under Lang, winning four straight regular-season and three straight playoff titles from 2019 to 2022. AIC upset No. 1 St. Cloud State in the 2019 NCAA tournament.

The school and Atlantic Hockey America have yet to release statements, but it is assumed that AIC will end its relationship with Atlantic Hockey America. The school is a member of the Northeast 10, a Division II conference that sponsors menโ€™s hockey. Current members are Assumption, Franklin Pierce, Post, Saint Anselm, Saint Michaelโ€™s and Southern New Hampshire.

There is no NCAA Division II tournament and teams in the NE-10 typically play Division III schools in non-conference play.

It is also likely that the program will end its relationship with the Mass Mutual Center, its home since 2017. Before that, AICโ€™s home rink was the Olympia Ice Center.

This is a developing story.