MINOT STATE UNIVERSITY SCORES ROAD WIN OVER IN-STATE RIVAL TO STAY ATOP AMERICAN COLLEGIATE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION RANKINGS
Beavers Have Held Top Spot in Rankings for Four Consecutive Weeks
UNION LAKE, Mich. – (February 5, 2025) – Minot State University (29-2-3) remains in the top spot in 2024-2025 ACHA Men’s Division I Ranking #13 for the fourth week in a row and sixth time this season after a 3-2 overtime victory on the road over No. 5 University of Jamestown (19-7-1). The Jimmies jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead at Wilson Arena on a pair of goals by freshman Darius Makse, which pushed the freshman’s goal output to sixteen on the season. The Beavers’ Brett Tataryn tallied a goal 4:36 into the second period before Trenton Curtis tied it at 2-2 with a power play marker. Neither team scored in the third period sending the game to overtime. During the 3-on-3 overtime, it was Beaver defenseman Brayden Pawluk who lit the lamp on the power play for the game-winning goal, despite 44 saves from Jimmies goaltender Brandon Weare.
No. 2 University of Nevada-Las Vegas (22-1-2), the Men’s Division I national runners-up in 2024, split a pair of road conference games with University of Utah (16-2, 6-0) at Salt Lake City Sports Complex. Friday night, after more than 51 minutes of scoreless action, it was Utah’s Ethan Light who finally solved goaltender Jeremy Forman on the power play. The lead vanished quickly as Bradley Golant and Preston Brodziak scored 19 seconds apart to put the Rebels up 2-1 with 7:17 remaining in the third period. The Rebels looked to ice the game late on the power play but Light sniped a shorthanded goal, his second of the game, for the Utes and sent the game into overtime. In overtime, Light notched the hat trick goal on the 4-on-3 power play to send the Utes home triumphant, 3-2. Saturday night, the Rebels peppered Utes goaltender Garrett Fuller with 43 shots while only allowing 12 shots against and came away with a 4-0 shutout victory. Heath Mensch and Tristan Rand accounted for all the scoring, each notching their 17th and 18th goals of the season.
No. 3 Liberty University (17-4-4) swept Adrian College (19-3-2) at the LaHaye Ice Center in Lynchburg, Va. Friday night, the Flames jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead and cruised to a 3-1 victory. Tucker Shields, Hayden DeMars, and Kal Essenmacher lit the lamp while goaltender Konrad Kausch turned aside 30 shots. In the rematch on Saturday afternoon, after a scoreless first period, Jackson Vercellono and Mason Smith scored 0:52 apart to put the Flames up 2-0. Dylan Gajewski and Keegan DeCaluwe each got the Bulldogs within a goal during the second and third periods, but DeMars responded for the Flames both times, pushing the lead back to two goals as the Flames prevailed 4-2.
No. 4 Ohio University (16-3-1) and No. 8 Niagara University (16-5-3) split a pair of overtime games at Bird Arena. Trailing 1-0 after two periods on Friday night, Noah Holt and Hollander Thompson scored 0:22 apart in the first 1:41 of the third period to put the Bobcats up 2-1. The Purple Eagles’ Charlie Belanger tied it up, but Spencer Schons responded to put the Bobcats up 3-2 with only 3:53 remaining in the third period. With the goalie pulled and an extra attacker on the ice, Adam Sojka tied it at 3-3 with only 0:32 remaining to send the game into overtime. Making sure to not disappoint the Bobcat faithful, Luc Reeve sent the crowd home in a joyful mood with the game-winning 3-on-3 goal. Saturday night, the Purple Eagles trailed by three goals on three different occasions (4-1, 5-2, 6-3) but fought back to tie the game with three third period goals by Ben Macrobbie, Cody Gudnason, and Cullen McCormick. Neither team scored in the overtime period, but all three Purple Eagles shooters scored in the shootout to secure the victory.
Rounding out the Top 5 is the aforementioned University of Jamestown.
Moving into the polls this week is No. 25 University of Delaware while John Carroll University drops out.
The Great Lakes 6 Hockey Conference, playing in its inaugural season, leads the way with four (of 6) of its member teams ranked, while Western Collegiate Hockey League has seven (of 11) of its member teams ranked, Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League has three (of 6) of its member teams ranked, and Midwest College Hockey has four (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
- University of Nevada-Las Vegas – (WCHL) Western Collegiate Hockey League
- (WHAC) Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference
The fourteenth ranking of the regular season will be released on Wednesday, February 12, 2025.
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 #13 | |||||
| Rank | School Name | M1 Record | Previous | Trend | Conference |
| 1 | Minot State | 29-2-3 | 1 | ― | MCH |
| 2 | Nevada-Las Vegas | 22-1-2 | 2 | ― | WCHL |
| 3 | Liberty | 17-4-4 | 4 | ↑1 | INDEP |
| 4 | Ohio | 16-3-1 | 3 | ↓1 | INDEP |
| 5 | Jamestown | 19-7-1 | 5 | ― | MCH |
| 6 | Adrian | 19-3-2 | 6 | ― | GL6 |
| 7 | Drury | 25-1-0 | 7 | ― | INDEP |
| 8 | Niagara | 16-5-3 | 8 | ― | INDEP |
| 9 | Maryville | 16-7-2 | 10 | ↑1 | INDEP |
| 10 | Utah | 15-6-1 | 11 | ↑1 | WCHL |
| 11 | Calvin | 19-5-0 | 9 | ↓2 | GL6 |
| 12 | Mary | 20-10-0 | 14 | ↑2 | MCH |
| 13 | Indiana Tech | 23-3-0 | 12 | ↓1 | WHAC |
| 14 | Grand Canyon | 12-10-1 | 13 | ↓1 | WCHL |
| 15 | Oklahoma | 16-6-1 | 18 | ↑3 | WCHL |
| 16 | Pittsburgh | 14-9-3 | 17 | ↑1 | ESCHL |
| 17 | Arizona State | 12-11-2 | 20 | ↑3 | WCHL |
| 18 | Purdue Northwest | 13-7-2 | 15 | ↓3 | GL6 |
| 19 | Oswego State | 18-6-3 | 16 | ↓3 | NECHL |
| 20 | Arizona | 12-12-1 | 19 | ↓1 | WCHL |
| 21 | Midland | 15-15-1 | 21 | ― | MCH |
| 22 | Stony Brook | 12-10-3 | 23 | ↑1 | ESCHL |
| 23 | Colorado | 16-11-2 | 24 | ↑1 | WCHL |
| 24 | Grand Valley State | 15-6-0 | 22 | ↓2 | GL6 |
| 25 | Delaware | 16-10-3 | NR | ↑1 | ESCHL |
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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.
