LINDENWOOD UNIVERSITY FINISHES 2021 AT NO. 1 IN AMERICAN COLLEGIATE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION MEN’S DIVISION I RANKING
Lions Will Start 2022 With Perfect 11-0-0 Record
UNION LAKE, Mich. – (December 15, 2021) – Lindenwood University finishes out the 2021 calendar year in the top spot in the 2021-2022 American Collegiate Hockey Association Men’s Division 1 Ranking No. 11. The Lions were idle and remain undefeated on the season with a record of 11-0-0. The Lions will be back in action January 7-8, 2022, on the road at the Big Pond in Champaign, Ill., against University of Illinois.
No. 2 Minot State University (12-2-0) split with arch-rival University of Jamestown, with each team winning on the road. The Jimmies struck first blood on Friday at Maysa Arena in Minot, N.D, breaking a scoreless tie just 0:39 into the third period to take a 1-0 lead. The Beavers answered right back just 0:30 later to tie it at 1-1, before Jamestown’s Mario Decapite broke the tie with only 8:12 remaining in the game. The Jimmies added an empty net goal for the 3-1 victory. On Saturday back in Jamestown, N.D., the Beavers scored three goals in a 4:33 span of the second period to go up 3-1 heading to the third period. However, the Jimmies clawed back with a pair of goals to tie it at 3-3 with 5:55 left in the period, only to have the Beaver’s Wayde Johannesson snipe the game-winner with 1:14 remaining on the clock for the 4-3 win.
No. 3 Iowa State University was idle and finishes out 2021 with a record of 17-2-1 while No. 4 University of Nevada-Las Vegas (16-3-0) swept Arizona State University (8-1, 7-3) at City National Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. Nick Flanders and Michael Boutoussov paced the Rebels attack with six points (three goals and three assists) in the sweep, while Bradley Golant chipped in two goals and four assists.
Rounding out the Top 5 was Liberty University, which was idle and finished the semester with a record of 14-4-0.
Moving into the polls this week is No. 24 Illinois State University while Lawrence Tech drops out of the Top 25.
The Central States Collegiate Hockey League leads the way with four (of 5) of its member teams ranked, while the Western Collegiate Hockey League has six (of 10) of its member teams ranked, the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League and Midwest College Hockey have three (of 6) of its member teams ranked, and the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference has three (of 7) of its member teams ranked.
The ACHA uses two computer rankings generated by USHSHO.com, Ranking A (Wins with Maximum Goal Differential of 7) and Ranking B (Wins with Maximum Goal Differential of 1), and comes up with an average of the two rankings. The ACHA will then use the list generated from the average for its weekly ranking. Ties will be broken using the higher ranked team from Ranking B until the Top 25 teams are listed. All games that go to overtime will be scored as ties in the computer ranking.
Over the past 18 seasons, 12 different schools have won the ACHA Men’s Division I National Championship: Lindenwood (3), Central Oklahoma (2), Illinois (2), Minot State (2), Adrian (2), Arizona State, Davenport, Delaware, Oakland, Ohio, Penn State, and Rhode Island.
Now in its 31st season of action, there have been a total of 14 schools that have won the ACHA Men’s Division I National Championship:
- Penn State (5 times)
- Ohio (4)
- Lindenwood (3)
- Adrian (2)
- Central Oklahoma (2)
- Illinois (2)
- Minot State (2)
- North Dakota State (2)
- Arizona State
- Davenport
- Delaware
- Iowa State
- Oakland
- Rhode Island
A total of 68 teams will compete in Men’s Division I this season, as four teams have departed Men’s Division I: Cornell University, Penn State Berks, Slippery Rock University, and SUNY Cortland.
The computer ranking will for the eighth time determine the 20 teams that qualify for the 2022 ACHA Men’s Division I National Championships, which will include the following eight autobids:
- (CHMA) College Hockey Mid-America
- (ECHA) Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association
- (ESCHL) Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League
- (GLCHL) Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League
- (MCH) Midwest Collegiate Hockey
- (NECHL) Northeast Collegiate Hockey League
- (WCHL) Western Collegiate Hockey League
- (WHAC) Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference
The twelfth ranking of the regular season will be released on Wednesday, January 12, 2022.
The 2022 ACHA Men’s Division I National Championships will be hosted March 10-15 for the first time by the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League and the St. Louis Sports Commission, with the event to be contested at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Mo. This will be the tenth year of the 20-team format.
| 2021-2022 ACHA Men’s Division I Ranking #11 | ||||
| Rank | School Name | M1 Record | Previous | Conference |
| 1 | Lindenwood | 11-0-0 | 1 | CSCHL |
| 2 | Minot State | 12-2-0 | 2 | Independent |
| 3 | Iowa State | 17-2-1 | 3 | CSCHL |
| 4 | Nevada-Las Vegas | 16-3-0 | 4 | WCHL |
| 5 | Liberty | 14-4-0 | 5 | Independent |
| 6 | Central Oklahoma | 16-4-0 | 7 | WCHL |
| 7 | Adrian | 13-4-0 | 6 | GLCHL |
| 8 | Indiana Tech | 16-2-0 | 8 | WHAC |
| 9 | Maryville | 12-5-1 | 9 | MCH |
| 10 | Missouri State | 14-6-0 | 10 | WCHL |
| 11 | Jamestown | 7-6-2 | 15 | Independent |
| 12 | Illinois | 10-12-1 | 14 | CSCHL |
| 13 | Stony Brook | 12-4-2 | 13 | ESCHL |
| 14 | Pittsburgh | 13-3-1 | 12 | CHMA |
| 15 | Ohio | 13-7-2 | 11 | CSCHL |
| 16 | Arizona | 12-5-0 | 16 | WCHL |
| 17 | Michigan-Dearborn | 12-6-2 | 18 | WHAC |
| 18 | Utah | 6-7-3 | 20 | WCHL |
| 19 | Aquinas | 12-4-1 | 19 | WHAC |
| 20 | Niagara | 17-3-1 | 17 | NECHL |
| 21 | Midland | 9-9-2 | 23 | MCH |
| 22 | Delaware | 12-6-2 | 22 | ESCHL |
| 23 | Rhode Island | 12-8-1 | 25 | ESCHL |
| 24 | Illinois State | 12-10-0 | NR | MCH |
| 25 | Arizona State | 5-12-0 | 24 | WCHL |
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