MINOT STATE UNIVERSITY SWEEPS MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY TO STAY ATOP AMERICAN COLLEGIATE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION RANKINGS
Beavers Have Held Top Spot in Rankings for Five Consecutive Weeks
UNION LAKE, Mich. – (February 12, 2025) – Minot State University (31-2-3) remains in the top spot in 2024-2025 ACHA Men’s Division I Ranking #14 for the fifth week in a row and seventh time this season after sweeping former No. 9 Maryville University (16-9-2) at Maysa Arena in Minot, N.D. Friday night, Colby Joseph and Logan Cyca staked the Beavers to a 2-0 lead just 6:52 into the game before the Saints settled down and got a power play goal from Sam Edwards to make it 2-1 after one period. Another pair of goals, this time by Matthew Yakubowski and Reid Arnold, just 0:28 apart in the first 4:31 of the second period put the Beavers up 4-1 after two periods. A second power play goal by Edwards was answered by Arnold’s second of the game as the Beavers prevailed 5-2. Saturday, the Beavers got on the board first with a power play goal by Jay Buchholz but Lucas Adams got the equalizer for the Saints to end the first period knotted at 1-1. Three power play goals in the second period by Arnold, Joseph, and Yakubowski put the game out of reach as the Beavers cruised to a 5-1 victory, while only allowing nine shots on goal in the contest by the Saints.
No. 2 University of Nevada-Las Vegas (22-1-2), the Men’s Division I national runners-up in 2024, was idle.
No. 3 Ohio University (17-3-2) and No. 4 Liberty University (18-5-4) split a pair of games at Bird Arena. Tied 2-2 after two periods on Friday night, defenseman Collin Felton put the Bobcats up 3-2 at the 4:08 mark of the third period before Mathieu Ovaert sealed the game with an empty net goal with 1:32 left in regulation. Nolan Abraham tacked on an insurance goal as the Bobcats prevailed 5-2. Saturday night, the Bobcats led 2-1 and were 0:33 away from a weekend sweep when the Flames’ Truett Olson tied the game at 2-2 with the goaltender pulled and an extra attacker on the ice. In overtime, Mason Smith was the hero netting the game winner and sending the Flames home with a 3-2 victory. Four different goaltenders saw action and made at least 30 saves: Konrad Kausch (30 saves) and Nicholas Bernstein (36 saves) for the Flames; Scott Bird (31 saves) and Max Karlenzig (37 saves) for the Bobcats.
Rounding out the Top 5 is University of Jamestown (19-7-1), which was idle this past weekend.
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 fifteenth ranking of the regular season will be released on Wednesday, February 19, 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 #14 | |||||
| Rank | School Name | M1 Record | Previous | Trend | Conference |
| 1 | Minot State | 31-2-3 | 1 | ― | MCH |
| 2 | Nevada-Las Vegas | 22-1-2 | 2 | ― | WCHL |
| 3 | Ohio | 17-3-2 | 4 | ↑1 | INDEP |
| 4 | Liberty | 18-5-4 | 3 | ↓1 | INDEP |
| 5 | Jamestown | 19-7-1 | 5 | ― | MCH |
| 6 | Adrian | 20-3-2 | 6 | ― | GL6 |
| 7 | Drury | 25-1-0 | 7 | ― | INDEP |
| 8 | Niagara | 18-5-3 | 8 | ― | INDEP |
| 9 | Utah | 17-6-1 | 10 | ↑1 | WCHL |
| 10 | Maryville | 16-9-2 | 9 | ↓1 | INDEP |
| 11 | Calvin | 21-5-0 | 11 | ― | GL6 |
| 12 | Grand Canyon | 14-10-1 | 14 | ↑2 | WCHL |
| 13 | Mary | 21-11-0 | 12 | ↓1 | MCH |
| 14 | Indiana Tech | 25-3-0 | 13 | ↓1 | WHAC |
| 15 | Arizona | 14-12-1 | 20 | ↑5 | WCHL |
| 16 | Midland | 16-15-2 | 21 | ↑5 | MCH |
| 17 | Arizona State | 12-13-2 | 17 | ― | WCHL |
| 18 | Purdue Northwest | 14-8-2 | 18 | ― | GL6 |
| 19 | Oklahoma | 17-7-1 | 15 | ↓4 | WCHL |
| 20 | Pittsburgh | 14-9-5 | 16 | ↓4 | ESCHL |
| 21 | Oswego State | 18-7-4 | 19 | ↓2 | NECHL |
| 22 | Colorado | 17-12-2 | 23 | ↑1 | WCHL |
| 23 | Stony Brook | 12-11-4 | 22 | ↓1 | ESCHL |
| 24 | Grand Valley State | 15-7-1 | 24 | ― | GL6 |
| 25 | Delaware | 18-10-3 | 25 | ― | 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.
