LINDENWOOD UNIVERSITY ENDS REGULAR SEASON NO. 1 IN AMERICAN COLLEGIATE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION MEN’S DIVISION I RANKING
Lions Will Enter National Championships as No. 1 Seed
UNION LAKE, Mich. – (February 22, 2022) – Lindenwood University, undefeated on the season with a record of 16-0-0, continues to hold the top spot in the 2021-2022 American Collegiate Hockey Association Men’s Division I Ranking No. 18. The Lions shutout Maryville University 3-0 in a Friday night contest on the road, the lone game Lindenwood played this past week. Goaltender Ethan Paulin-Hatch stopped all 20 shots he faced while Andy Willis and Zachary Aughe each had a goal and an assist in the game. The Lions, the Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL) Regular Season Champions, earned its 18th consecutive bid and will enter the 2022 ACHA Men’s Division I National Championships as the top seed, looking to bring home their fourth national title.
Minot State University (23-2-0) was idle and will be the No. 2 seed, earning its 13th consecutive bid and 18th overall. Iowa State University (26-4-2) swept a pair of home-and-home games (6-1, 5-2) against Midland University and will enter Nationals as the No. 3 seed. This will be the third consecutive bid for the Cyclones and 28th overall. The University of Nevada-Las Vegas (24-4-1) Rebels will be the No. 4 seed after sweeping Grand Canyon University at home this past weekend (3-2, 6-3), earning their fourth bid to Nationals in the last five seasons. Rounding out the top 5 is Liberty University (19-8-1), which split a home series with University of Jamestown, winning 2-1 on Friday but losing 3-2 on Saturday. This is the Flames’ sixth consecutive bid to Nationals and 14th overall.
The first three conference playoff champions were crowned this past weekend in College Hockey Mid-America (CHMA), Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL), and Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC), as John Carroll University, Stony Brook University, and Indiana Tech won their respective titles. With their playoff titles in hand, all three teams secured the final autobids to the 2022 ACHA Men’s Division I National Championships, joining the five teams that had previously clinched autobids: United States Naval Academy from Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association (ECHA), Adrian College from Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League (GLCHL), Maryville University from Midwest College Hockey (MCH), Niagara University from Northeast Collegiate Hockey League (NECHL), and University of Central Oklahoma from Western Collegiate Hockey League (WCHL).
This ranking marks the deadline for choosing the 20 participating teams for the 2022 ACHA Men’s Division I National Championships. Eleven teams in the ranking will return after participating in Nationals last season, including the defending National Champions and No. 7 seed Adrian College (12th overall appearance); No. 9 seed University of Jamestown (fifth overall appearance); No. 10 seed Missouri State University (fourth overall appearance); No. 11 Indiana Tech (third overall appearance); No. 14 Maryville University (second overall appearance); and No. 15 seed Ohio University (30th overall appearance).
Joining those schools will be nine teams that did not participate a year ago: No. 6 seed University of Central Oklahoma (12th overall appearance); No. 8 seed Stony Brook University (13th overall appearance); No. 12 seed University of Illinois (26th overall appearance); No. 13 seed University of Pittsburgh (third overall appearance); No. 16 University of Arizona (19th overall appearance); No. 17 University of Michigan-Dearborn (22nd overall appearance); No. 18 seed Niagara University (fourth overall appearance); No. 19 John Carroll University (third overall appearance); and No. 20 United States Naval Academy (fifth overall appearance).
2022 ACHA Men’s Division I National Championships team breakdown by conferences:
4 – CSCHL Illinois, Iowa State, Lindenwood, and Ohio
4 – WCHL Arizona, Central Oklahoma, Missouri State, and Nevada-Las Vegas
3 – Independent Jamestown, Liberty, and Minot State
2 – CHMA John Carroll and Pittsburgh
2 – WHAC Indiana Tech and Michigan-Dearborn
1 – ECHA Navy
1 – ESCHL Stony Brook
1 – GLCHL Adrian
1 – MCH Maryville
1 – NECHL Niagara
The CSCHL leads the way with four (of 5) of its member teams ranked, while the WCHL has six (of 10) of its member teams ranked, the ESCHL has three (of 6) of its member teams ranked, the WHAC has three (of 7) of its member teams ranked, MCH has two (of 6) of its member teams ranked, and the GLCHL has two (of 7) of its member teams ranked.
Moving into the polls this week is No. 24 Davenport University while Lawrence Tech drops out of the Top 25.
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 competed 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 final ranking of the 2021-2022 ACHA Men’s Division I season will be released on Wednesday, March 23, 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 #18 | ||||
| Rank | School Name | M1 Record | Previous | Conference |
| 1 | Lindenwood | 16-0-0 | 1 | CSCHL |
| 2 | Minot State | 23-2-0 | 2 | Independent |
| 3 | Iowa State | 26-4-2 | 5 | CSCHL |
| 4 | Nevada-Las Vegas | 24-4-1 | 4 | WCHL |
| 5 | Liberty | 19-8-1 | 3 | Independent |
| 6 | Central Oklahoma | 28-4-0 | 7 | WCHL |
| 7 | Adrian | 22-4-0 | 6 | GLCHL |
| 8 | Stony Brook | 21-6-2 | 8 | ESCHL |
| 9 | Jamestown | 10-11-5 | 11 | Independent |
| 10 | Missouri State | 19-10-3 | 13 | WCHL |
| 11 | Indiana Tech | 26-4-2 | 10 | WHAC |
| 12 | Illinois | 20-14-1 | 9 | CSCHL |
| 13 | Pittsburgh | 26-4-1 | 12 | CHMA |
| 14 | Maryville | 19-7-1 | 15 | MCH |
| 15 | Ohio | 14-13-5 | 14 | CSCHL |
| 16 | Arizona | 14-11-3 | 16 | WCHL |
| 17 | Michigan-Dearborn | 21-9-2 | 18 | WHAC |
| 18 | Aquinas | 19-7-2 | 17 | WHAC |
| 19 | Niagara | 26-4-1 | 19 | NECHL |
| 20 | Utah | 12-8-4 | 20 | WCHL |
| 21 | Arizona State | 14-14-0 | 21 | WCHL |
| 22 | Midland | 13-14-3 | 24 | MCH |
| 23 | Rhode Island | 18-10-2 | 22 | ESCHL |
| 24 | Davenport | 19-9-0 | NR | GLCHL |
| 25 | Delaware | 19-12-2 | 23 | ESCHL |
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