MINOT STATE UNIVERSITY BACK ATOP AMERICAN COLLEGIATE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION RANKING #7 AFTER THREE WIN WEEK
Beavers Back on Top for First Time Since Ranking #1
UNION LAKE, Mich. – (November 20, 2024) – Minot State University (13-1-1) takes over the top spot in 2024-2025 ACHA Men’s Division I Ranking #7. In a rare regular season battle of No. 1 vs No. 2, the Beavers prevailed 6-1 over University of Jamestown (13-1-0) in the friendly confines of Maysa Arena, giving the Jimmies their first loss in Men’s Division I action. Colby Joseph and Joey Moffatt each had a pair of goals, Matthew Yakubowski distributed three assists, and Jake Anthony turned aside 26 shots on goal to bump the No. 2 Jimmies out of the top spot after three consecutive weeks on top. The Beavers finished off the week by hitting the road to Sidner Ice Arena in Fremont, Neb., and sweeping Midland University (6-1, 3-0) in a pair of conference games. Joseph had three more goals and Yakubowski dished out three more assists.
No. 3 Ohio University (10-2-0) was idle as they continue to deal with the delayed opening of their home rink, Bird Ice Arena. The arena closed in March of 2024 to undergo renovations, but its reopening was delayed for an unexpected facility equipment issue related to maintaining the arena’s ice surface. The Bobcats are hoping to see Bird Ice Arena back open for business in January of 2025.
No. 4 Adrian College (10-1-2), the defending Men’s Division I National Champions, swept a home and home conference series with Davenport University (3-0, 4-2). Thursday night at Arrington Ice Arena, Sebastian Smith, Hunter Allen, and David Dell provided the offense while Noah Decottignies saw his first action of the year and pitched a 17 save shutout, whereas Kyler Lowden’s 36 saves were not enough for the Panthers. Friday night at Patterson Ice Center in Grand Rapids, Mich., Nash Hatcher broke a 2-2 third period tie with a shorthanded goal past Panther netminder Nathan Gauthier with only 2:43 remaining in the third period. The Panthers pulled Gauthier for the extra attacker, but Dylan Gajewski buried the empty net goal for the final margin of victory.
Rounding out the Top 5 was University of Nevada-Las Vegas (9-1-0), Men’s Division I national runners-up in 2024, which swept conference foe University of Utah in the friendly confines of City National Arena. Thursday night, Tristan Rand had a natural hat trick before the second period ended to lead the Rebels to a 4-2 victory. Utes’ goaltender Garrett Fuller turned aside 44 shots in defeat. Friday night, the teams battled back and forth before Heath Mensch broke a 4-4 tie with only 2:09 remaining in the third period with the game winning goal. Fuller made 36 more saves, while Rebels goaltender Jeremy Forman got both wins and had 50 total saves.
Moving into the polls this week is No. 22 University of Central Oklahoma while University of Colorado drops out.
The Great Lakes 6 Hockey Conference, playing in its inaugural season, leads the way with five (of 6) of its member teams ranked, while Western Collegiate Hockey League, has eight (of 11) of its member teams ranked, and Midwest College Hockey has five (of 10) 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 come 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 21 seasons, 12 different schools have won the ACHA Men’s Division I National Championship: Lindenwood (4), Minot State (3), Adrian (3), Central Oklahoma (2), Illinois (2), Arizona State, Davenport, Delaware, Oakland, Ohio, Penn State, and Rhode Island.
Now in its 34th season of action, there have been a total of 14 schools that have won the ACHA Men’s Division I National Championship:
- Penn State University (5 times)
- Lindenwood University (4)
- Ohio University (4)
- Adrian College (3)
- Minot State University (3)
- North Dakota State University (2)
- University Central Oklahoma (2)
- University of Illinois (2)
- Arizona State University
- Davenport University
- Iowa State University
- Oakland University
- University of Delaware
- University of Rhode Island
A total of 73 teams will compete in Men’s Division I this season, including former Men’s Division II member Drury University and former Men’s Division III members Northwood University and Saginaw Valley State University.
The computer ranking will for the eleventh time determine the 24 teams that qualify for the 2025 ACHA Men’s Division I National Championships, which will include the following eight auto bids:
- (CHMA) College Hockey Mid-America
- (ECHA) Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association
- (ESCHL) Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League
- (GLCHL) Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League
- (MCH) Midwest College Hockey
- (NECHL) Northeast Collegiate Hockey League
- (WCHL) Western Collegiate Hockey League
- (WHAC) Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference
The eighth ranking of the regular season will be released on Wednesday, November 27, 2024.
The 2025 ACHA Men’s Division I National Championships presented by FloHockey will be hosted March 13-18 for the third time at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Mo. This will be the second year of the 24-team format.
| 2024-2025 ACHA Men’s Division I Ranking #7 | |||||
| Rank | School Name | M1 Record | Previous | Trend | Conference |
| 1 | Minot State | 13-1-1 | 2 | ↑1 | MCH |
| 2 | Jamestown | 13-1-0 | 1 | ↓1 | MCH |
| 3 | Ohio | 10-2-0 | 3 | ― | INDEP |
| 4 | Adrian | 10-1-2 | 4 | ― | GL6 |
| 5 | Nevada-Las Vegas | 9-1-0 | 5 | ― | WCHL |
| 6 | Niagara | 13-2-1 | 12 | ↑6 | INDEP |
| 7 | Liberty | 8-4-2 | 10 | ↑3 | INDEP |
| 8 | Maryville | 10-4-1 | 11 | ↑3 | INDEP |
| 9 | Calvin | 13-1-0 | 6 | ↓3 | GL6 |
| 10 | Drury | 13-1-0 | 9 | ↓1 | INDEP |
| 11 | Utah | 9-3-1 | 7 | ↓4 | WCHL |
| 12 | Grand Canyon | 5-3-1 | 14 | ↑2 | WCHL |
| 13 | Oklahoma | 12-2-1 | 8 | ↓5 | WCHL |
| 14 | Mary | 10-4-0 | 13 | ↓1 | MCH |
| 15 | Indiana Tech | 12-2-0 | 16 | ↑1 | WHAC |
| 16 | Arizona | 5-6-0 | 15 | ↓1 | WCHL |
| 17 | Midland | 8-10-1 | 19 | ↑2 | MCH |
| 18 | Oswego State | 10-4-3 | 17 | ↓1 | NECHL |
| 19 | Purdue Northwest | 6-6-0 | 18 | ↓1 | GL6 |
| 20 | Arizona State | 4-6-0 | 21 | ↑1 | WCHL |
| 21 | Grand Valley State | 8-4-0 | 20 | ↓1 | GL6 |
| 22 | Central Oklahoma | 6-6-0 | NR | ↑4 | WCHL |
| 23 | Waldorf | 4-10-0 | 22 | ↓1 | MCH |
| 24 | Davenport | 10-9-0 | 24 | ― | GL6 |
| 25 | Missouri State | 6-8-2 | 25 | ― | WCHL |
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About American Collegiate Hockey Association
The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) was founded in 1991 and is the national association for Non-NCAA Collegiate Hockey throughout the United States. Our organization of more than 450 colleges and university-affiliated teams representing 48 states provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes the sport of Hockey nationwide. With approximately 13,000 players and coaches as well as countless volunteers and game officials, the ACHA has experienced tremendous growth over the past decade and continues to be a viable option for college bound student-athletes to continue playing competitive hockey nationwide. Headquartered in Troy, Michigan, the ACHA’s primary mission is to support the growth of Collegiate Hockey while emphasizing academic performance, personal development, and opportunities for regional, national, and international competition. The ACHA identifies standards which serve to unite and regulate teams at the collegiate level and entered its 34th season in September 2024. For more information, visit achahockey.org.
