FOR THE FIRST TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY, MCKENDREE CLAIMS NO. 1 SPOT IN THE W1 ACHA RANKINGS
TROY, Mich. – (October 21, 2025) – McKendree University claims the No. 1 spot in the second weekly ranking of the 2025-2026 American Collegiate Hockey Association Women’s Division 1 season. The Bearcats (7-1-0-0) swept No. 5 ranked Maryville University (3-3-0-0), winning 6-4 and 5-4.
No. 2 Midland University (13-0-0-0) has a bye this week. They will be on the road to St Louis for games against McKendree University, and Maryville University.
No. 3 Liberty (6-0-0-0), up three spots from last week, swept Lindenwood University this past weekend. The Flames will hit the road to Michigan for a 2-game series against Adrian College.
Sitting at No. 4 in the rankings is Arizona State University (4-0-0-0). The Sun Devils swept up a few wins in the East this past weekend. They beat University of Massachusetts-Amherst 3-2 and 3-0. They also beat University of Rhode Island 3-0. The Sun Devils will head to North Dakota to take on Minot State University this weekend.
Please note, a few teams in the rankings have played less than 6 games. This can have a significant impact on the ranking from week to week.
The Women’s Midwest College Hockey League has six (of 8) member teams ranked, while the Central Collegiate Women’s Hockey Association has seven (of 12) of its member teams ranked, and the Western Women’s Collegiate Hockey League has one (of 6).
The computer ranking will determine the 10 teams that qualify for the 2026 ACHA Women’s Division 1 National Championships, which will include the following three automatic bids:
- (CCWHA) Central Collegiate Women’s Hockey Association
- (WWCHL) Western Women’s Collegiate Hockey League
- (WMCHL) Women’s Midwest College Hockey League
A total of 34 teams are competing in Women’s Division 1 this season, including one new full member team, Eastern Michigan University, and two probationary members, University of Washington, and University of New Mexico.
The ACHA uses two computer rankings, Ranking A (Wins with goal differential of 6) and Ranking B (Wins with maximum goal differential of 1) to come up with an average of the two rankings, which determines the ranking spots for teams.
There has been a total of 10 schools that have won the ACHA Women’s Division 1 National Championship:
- St. Cloud State
- Wisconsin (2 Times)
- Michigan State (2)
- Robert Morris (2)
- Lindenwood (4)
- Northeastern
- Minnesota
- Miami (3)
- Liberty (7)
- Adrian
The 2026 ACHA National Championships presented by FloHockey will be played March 12-24, 2026 at Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, MO. All five divisions, with more than 1,500 players from 72 teams — Men’s Division 1, 2, and 3, and Women’s Divisions 1 and 2 — will converge upon the Maryland Heights area to compete in more than 100 games. The ACHA Women’s Division I National Championships presented by FloHockey will have twelve teams competing beginning on March 18th and conclude with the Championship game on March 22nd.
