LINDENWOOD STARTS 2022 AT NO. 1 IN ACHA M1 RANKING

LINDENWOOD UNIVERSITY STARTS 2022 AT NO. 1 IN AMERICAN COLLEGIATE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION MEN’S DIVISION I RANKING

Lions Games Against University of Illinois Postponed

 

UNION LAKE, Mich. – (January 12, 2022) – Lindenwood University, undefeated on the season with a record of 11-0-0, starts 2022 in the top spot in the 2021-2022 American Collegiate Hockey Association Men’s Division 1 Ranking No. 12. The Lions two scheduled games against Central States Collegiate Hockey League foe University of Illinois this past weekend were postponed.

 

No. 2 Minot State University improve to 15-2-0 after three wins on the road in sunny Arizona.  The Beavers started the trip with a 4-0 shutout win over Grand Canyon University as Carter Barley had the natural hat trick, while Antelopes goaltender Scott Kasaboski kept the game close by making 50 saves on the night.  Friday night in Tucson, Ariz., it was Wildcat goaltender Anthony Ciurro who frustrated the Beavers most of the night by making 44 saves, but Reece Henry and Jared Hamm tallied power play goals as Minot State won 3-1.  Saturday the Wildcats jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period only to see the Beavers tie it at 2-2 after two periods of play.  With only 1:19 remaining in the third period, Josh Pederson snuck one past goaltender Nolan Bivolcic for the 3-2 win and weekend sweep.  Bivolcic made 37 saves for Arizona.

 

Despite being swept on the road by No. 6 University of Central Oklahoma, Iowa State University remains in the No. 3 position with a record of 17-3-2.  Friday night it was all Bronchos as they blanked the Cyclones 6-0.  Zach Guerra paced the Bronchos with 2 goals and an assist while Vitalii Mikhailov had a goal and 2 assists.  Benjamin Kelsch stopped all 19 Cyclone shots for the shutout victory.  Saturday night, it looked like a sweep was imminent as Austin Simpson’s second goal of the night put the Bronchos up 3-1 with only 4:46 left in the third period.  However, the Cyclones Max Kamper cut the lead to 3-2 with 2:13 left in the third period before Brooks Mitzel knotted the score at 3-3 with only two seconds remaining in regulation.  Nevertheless, Adam Stalzer sniped the game winner for the Bronchos with only 0:42 left in the overtime period for the 4-3 win and weekend sweep.

 

No. 4 Liberty University (14-4-0) and No. 5 University of Nevada-Las Vegas (16-3-0) were both idle to start 2022.

 

Moving into the polls this week is No. 24 Lawrence Tech and No. 25 Robert Morris University while University of Delaware and Illinois State University drop 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 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference has four (of 7) of its member teams ranked, and the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League and Midwest College Hockey have two (of 6) 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 thirteenth ranking of the regular season will be released on Wednesday, January 19, 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 #12
Rank School Name M1 Record Previous Conference
1 Lindenwood 11-0-0 1 CSCHL
2 Minot State 15-2-0 2 Independent
3 Iowa State 17-3-2 3 CSCHL
4 Liberty 14-4-0 5 Independent
5 Nevada-Las Vegas 16-3-0 4 WCHL
6 Central Oklahoma 19-4-0 6 WCHL
7 Adrian 13-4-0 7 GLCHL
8 Missouri State 14-6-0 10 WCHL
9 Jamestown 9-6-2 11 Independent
10 Maryville 12-5-1 9 MCH
11 Stony Brook 14-4-2 13 ESCHL
12 Indiana Tech 18-2-0 8 WHAC
13 Illinois 10-12-1 12 CSCHL
14 Pittsburgh 13-3-1 14 CHMA
15 Arizona 12-7-0 16 WCHL
16 Ohio 13-7-2 15 CSCHL
17 Michigan-Dearborn 12-6-2 17 WHAC
18 Utah 6-7-3 18 WCHL
19 Niagara 17-3-1 20 NECHL
20 Aquinas 12-4-1 19 WHAC
21 Midland 9-9-2 21 MCH
22 Rhode Island 12-8-1 23 ESCHL
23 Arizona State 5-12-0 25 WCHL
24 Lawrence Tech 13-6-0 NR WHAC
25 Robert Morris 16-4-1 NR CHMA

 

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