The Aurora University ACHA Club Hockey Team qualified for the ACHA Men's Division III National Tournament, the club's second time in three seasons. By sweeping the weekend, defeating University of Wisconsin- Platteville 6-3 and Iowa State University 4-2, the Spartans will travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan for the ACHA Division III Nationals.
 
The 2015-2016 ACHA Division III National Club Tournament will be held on March 8-12, 2016 in Grand Rapids, Michigan at Southside Arena. AU is the No. 3 seed out of four representatives for the Pacific Region.
 
On Friday, February 19, the Spartans were welcomed to a hardnosed UW-Platteville squad who weathered a few early storms to find themselves down to AU by a 1-0 deficit at the end of the first. The second period has been the Spartans strongest this season and they peppered the Miners goaltender for four unanswered goals and a 5-0 lead. A well planned timeout and undisciplined Spartan penalties brought UW-Platteville momentum and a late goal. The third period saw the Miners really take it to the Spartans, scoring two more goals and holding most of the possession while AU scrambled to keep the lead. A late empty net goal sealed the deal for the Spartans and a match-up with Iowa State.
 
The stars seemed to align for the AU Club team as they claimed a rare 7:00 am game on Saturday, February 20. Most teams would see this as unusual, but with the boys having a 6:00 am practice slot all season, it was "business as usual" as they came out flying to a flat ISU squad. Though the score reflected a tie game after one, shots and time of possession would indicate Aurora had outplayed the heavily favored Cyclones. Continuing with the "business as usual" theme, AU had another four goal period in the second, continuing to deflate Iowa States hopes of making it to the big dance. The third period saw some of the best back and forth hockey of AU's season, proving they could outlast the gasping Cyclones. Spartan goaltender Brad Neal kept the goals against blank until the final minute when Iowa State scored two late extra attacker goals.
 
When the final buzzer had sounded, for the second time in three years, and for the first time under Coach Jack Wood, the Spartan squad stormed the ice and celebrated by their net, acknowledging they had punched their ticket to Grand Rapids. The two wins over the weekend brought their record to 23 wins, 3 regulation losses, 0 ties, and 2 extra time losses.
 
The team has seen many changes throughout the season, with additions, subtractions, as well as injuries, and illness' at critical times. The Aurora squad went into the regional tournament short some key players, such as leading scorer Vinnie Palermo (Illness).
 
"We have really embodied the "Next Man Up" mentality, as fatigue, injuries, and other circumstances have kept players out of games," said Wood. "Our roster has found just about everyone seeing double digit games played this year, even with a roster of 28."
 
This mentality should give them the Spartans an edge when the face the daunting task of a schedule that will have them play a guaranteed three games in three days, with the possibility of five in five if they continue through the duration of the tournament to the national championship game.
 
After arriving in Michigan, the Spartans will face the South's No. 1 seed Florida Gulf Coast, the Atlantic's No. 2 seed Farmingdale State, and the North's No. 4 seed Central Michigan in pool play.  The pool play games will be held on Tuesday, March 8, Wednesday, March 9 and Thursday, March 10. The national semi-final round is slated for Friday, March 11 and the championship game on Saturday, March 12 with a 7:30 p.m. (EST) puck drop.