MINOT STATE UNIVERSITY REMAINS IN NO. 1 SPOT IN AMERICAN COLLEGIATE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION RANKING #15
Beavers Have Held the No. 1 Spot in 36 of the Last 58 Rankings
UNION LAKE, Mich. – (February 18, 2026) – Minot State University (25-1-2) remains in the top spot of 2025-2026 ACHA Men’s Division I Ranking #15 for the sixth consecutive week after registering three wins. The Beavers started the week by defeating conference rival No. 7 University of Jamestown 7-3 on the road at Wilson Arena, as the Beavers power play went 4-for-6. Joey Moffatt had a pair of goals and an assist while Colby Joseph and Christian Kadolph each had a goal and two assists. Jimmies goaltender Brandon Weare had 39 saves in a losing cause. Back at home in the friendly confines of Maysa Arena on Friday and Saturday night, the Beavers swept Calvin University (5-0, 5-1) as they outshot the Knights 74-35 and scored two more power play goals. Joseph had three more goals to bring his season total to 22, while Logan Cyca (goal, three assists), Jay Buchholz (two goals, assist), Eric Krywy (three assists), and Matthew Yakubowski (three assists) paced the rest of the offense.
No. 2 Niagara University (22-4-0) hit the road and swept No. 20 Stony Brook University (3-1, 4-3) at The Rinx in Hauppauge, N.Y. Saturday night, Charlie Belanger notched his 20th goal of the season in the first period, Johny Wescoe tallied in the second period, and Jakob Kalin scored in the third period for a 3-0 lead. Paul Desaro scored a power play goal with only 0:02 remaining in the game to ruin the shutout bid for goaltender Jacob Dubinsky, who finished with 30 saves. Sunday afternoon, Lucas Fancy and Belanger scored goals early in the second period to put the Purple Eagles up 3-1 before a pair of goals by Peter Labos tied it 3-3. However, Belanger scored his second goal of the game and third of the weekend to put the Purple Eagles up 4-3 after two periods and the Seawolves were unable to get another one past goaltender Jackson Pundyk, who finished with 36 saves for the win. Seawolves goaltender Steven Reganato stopped 75 of the 82 shots sent his way on the weekend.
No. 3 Ohio University (26-6-0) split a pair of home games with No. 6 Liberty University at Bird Arena in Athens, Ohio. Friday night, Nolan Abraham broke a 1-1 tie with only 4:47 remaining in the third period as the Bobcats prevailed 2-1. Despite being outshot 33-18 for the game, Flames goaltender Konrad Kausch turned aside 31 shots to keep it deadlocked for most of the game, while counterpart Scott Bird made 17 saves for the win. Saturday evening, Abraham put the Bobcats up 1-0 just 1:29 into the contest but a power play goal by Aidan Carney tied it 1-1 after one period of play. Kai Essenmacher tallied a shorthanded goal to put the Flames up 2-1 after two periods of play. Looking for the equalizer late in the third period, the Bobcats pulled goaltender Garrett Alderman (31 saves), but Michael Adamek scored an empty net goal to finish off the win 3-1, as Kausch finished with another 36 saves.
No. 4 University of Nevada-Las Vegas (24-4-0) swept a pair of home conference games against Arizona State University (4-2, 9-2) at City National Arena. The Rebels outshot the Sun Devils 79-41 on the weekend and were led offensively by Mason Kelly (two goals, two assists), Brady Estabrook (two goals, assist), Dylan Jensen (two goals, assist), Ryder McIntosh (two goals, assist), and Charles Masek (three assists). With the wins, the Rebels clinched the Regular Season Championship of the Western Collegiate Hockey League (WCHL) and an automatic berth to the 2026 ACHA Men’s Division I National Championships, where they will attempt to defend their title.
Rounding out the Top 5 is Drury University (23-2-0), which swept Midland University (5-4 OT, 4-1) on the road at Sidner Ice Arena in Fremont, Neb. Friday night, trailing 1-0 after the first period, a shorthanded goal by Tegan Neuman and a power play goal by Tyson Horiachka put the Panthers up 2-1 early in the second. After the teams traded goals to make it 3-2, the Warriors’ Karl Grafelman scored his 15th goal on the power play to tie it 3-3 after the second period. Just 0:27 into the third period, Jack Olson put the Warriors up 4-3 but Anmol Garcha tied it 4-4 just 0:48 later, with neither team scoring over the final 18:45 of the period to send the game into overtime. Matthew Johnston ended it by scoring 2:42 into the 3-on-3 extra frame for the Panthers. Saturday night, again trailing 1-0 after the first period, Devin Jameson tallied a pair of goals to put the Panthers up 2-1 after two periods. Garcha and Lukas Ravenstein added insurance goals as the Panthers pulled away for a 4-1 victory. Goaltender Jozef Kuchaslo (40 saves/45 shots) recorded both wins while Elijah Marchese (52 saves/61 shots) took both losses.
Moving into the polls this week is No. 25 Indiana Tech while Northwood University drops out of the Top 25.
The Great Lakes 6 Hockey Conference leads the way with six (of 7) of its member teams ranked, while Midwest College Hockey has four (of 7) of its member teams ranked, Western Collegiate Hockey League has five (of 11) of its member teams ranked, Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League has two (of 10) of its member teams ranked, Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference has one (of 6) of its member teams ranked, College Hockey Mid-America has one (of 7) of its member teams ranked, and Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association has one (of 11) of its member teams ranked.
Over the past 22 seasons, 13 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, Nevada-Las Vegas, Oakland, Ohio, Penn State, and Rhode Island.
Now in its 35th season of action, there have been a total of 15 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 Nevada-Las Vegas
- University of Rhode Island
A total of 81 teams will compete in Men’s Division I this season, including former Men’s Division II members Central Michigan University, North Carolina State University, University of Cincinnati, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and University of North Carolina, along with former Men’s Division III members Hope College, the reigning ACHA Men’s Division III National Champions, and University of Michigan-Flint. The Concordia University Ann Arbor program, which made the announcement to relocate to Siena Heights University back in April, folded in July before getting to play a game as the Saints.
The computer ranking will for the twelfth time determine the 24 teams that qualify for the 2026 ACHA Men’s Division I National Championships, which will include the following six auto bids:
- (CHMA) College Hockey Mid-America
- (ECHA) Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association
- (GLCHL) Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League
- (MCH) Midwest College Hockey
- University of Nevada-Las Vegas – (WCHL) Western Collegiate Hockey League
- (WHAC) Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference
The sixteenth ranking of the regular season will be released on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, after the ACHA Men’s Division I Selection Show, which will unveil the 24 teams that qualify for the 2026 ACHA Men’s Division I National Championships. Produced in conjunction with the Liberty Broadcast Experience at Liberty University, the ACHA Men’s Division I Selection Show will be will be streamed live at 9:00 PM EST on Tuesday, February 24, 2026 at https://tinyurl.com/2026m1.
The 2026 ACHA Men’s Division I National Championships presented by FloHockey will be hosted March 12-17 for the fourth time at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Mo. This will be the third year of the 24-team format.
| 2025-2026 ACHA Men’s Division I Ranking #15 | |||||
| Rank | School Name | M1 Record | Previous | Trend | Conference |
| 1 | Minot State | 25-1-2 | 1 | ― | MCH |
| 2 | Niagara | 22-4-0 | 3 | ↑1 | INDEP |
| 3 | Ohio | 26-6-0 | 2 | ↓1 | INDEP |
| 4 | Nevada-Las Vegas | 24-4-0 | 4 | ― | WCHL |
| 5 | Drury | 23-2-0 | 5 | ― | INDEP |
| 6 | Liberty | 18-9-1 | 6 | ― | INDEP |
| 7 | Jamestown | 21-10-0 | 7 | ― | MCH |
| 8 | Maryville | 11-10-1 | 8 | ― | INDEP |
| 9 | Adrian | 23-6-2 | 10 | ↑1 | GL6 |
| 10 | Calvin | 18-7-2 | 9 | ↓1 | GL6 |
| 11 | Mary | 21-12-1 | 11 | ― | MCH |
| 12 | Utah | 14-8-1 | 12 | ― | WCHL |
| 13 | Grand Canyon | 19-8-0 | 13 | ― | WCHL |
| 14 | Hope | 24-7-0 | 14 | ― | GL6 |
| 15 | Arizona | 13-9-3 | 16 | ↑1 | WCHL |
| 16 | Purdue Northwest | 14-14-2 | 17 | ↑1 | GL6 |
| 17 | Missouri State | 14-7-5 | 15 | ↓2 | WCHL |
| 18 | Midland | 7-17-6 | 22 | ↑4 | MCH |
| 19 | Grand Valley State | 17-12-2 | 18 | ↓1 | GL6 |
| 20 | Stony Brook | 13-13-3 | 20 | ― | ACCHL |
| 21 | West Chester | 23-7-0 | 19 | ↓2 | ECHA |
| 22 | Indiana Pennsylvania | 27-3-4 | 21 | ↓1 | CHMA |
| 23 | Davenport | 18-16-5 | 23 | ― | GL6 |
| 24 | Kentucky | 20-3-1 | 24 | ― | ACCHL |
| 25 | Indiana Tech | 15-7-6 | NR | ↑1 | WHAC |
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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 560 colleges and university-affiliated teams representing 48 states provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes the sport of Hockey nationwide. With approximately 16,000 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 35th season in September 2025. For more information, visit achahockey.org.
