OHIO UNIVERSITY ATOP AMERICAN COLLEGIATE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION RANKINGS FOR FIRST TIME IN OVER 8 YEARS
Bobcats Last Held the No. 1 Ranking Back on November 9, 2016
UNION LAKE, Mich. – (November 27, 2024) – Ohio University (10-2-0) rises to the top of 2024-2025 ACHA Men’s Division I Ranking #8 for the first time since November 9, 2016. The Bobcats, which have victories this season over No. 2 Adrian College, No. 3 Liberty University, and No. 4 Minot State University, were 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. 2 Adrian College (12-1-2), the defending Men’s Division I National Champions, hit the road to defeat University of Michigan-Dearborn 8-0 on Tuesday night. Blake Wideman had a pair of goals, Andreas Fleutot had three assists, and goaltender Noah Decottignies pitched a 17-save shutout for the Bulldogs. Thursday night at Arrington Ice Arena, Matteo Turrin and Fleutot each had a goal and two assists to pace the Bulldogs 6-0 victory while limiting the Saints to 12 shots on goal. Simon Johnson had 43 saves in goal for the Saints.
Liberty University (11-4-2) moved into the No. 3 position after wins over Maryville University (2-1), Minot State University (5-2), and University of Arizona (8-3) at the Maryville Showcase Invitational in Chesterfield, Mo. After two scoreless periods against Maryville University, the Saints drew first blood on a power play goal by Will Smith, but the Flames tallied two power play goals (Maguire Ratzlaff and Jackson Vercellono) in the last 5:35 of regulation for the win. Konrad Kausch made 35 saves for the win. Saturday, the Flames trailed again, this time 2-0 early in the second period before rattling off five straight goals to finish off the Beavers. Kausch and Beaver goaltender Jake Anthony each turned aside 35 shots. Saturday against the Wildcats, Lazarus Kaebel broke a 2-2 tie in the middle of the second period as the Flames pulled away in the third period for an 8-3 win, with Kausch adding another 33 saves to his weekend total of 103 saves.
No. 4 Minot State University (14-2-2) started its Maryville Showcase Invitational with a 3-2 win over University of Arizona on Thursday. The Beavers trailed 2-1 after Riley Ruh’s second goal of the game early in the third period, but Logan Rands tied it with only 8:07 left in regulation before Joey Moffatt got the game winning goal a mere 46 seconds later. Hadyn Gould was sensational for the Wildcats with 47 saves on the night. After Friday night’s 5-2 loss to Liberty University, the Beavers finished off their weekend with a game against host Maryville University. The Beavers built a 2-0 lead on goals by Jay Buchholz and Walker Jerome, but Smith cut the lead in half before Campbell Mclean, scoring with only 4:47 left in regulation, sent the game into overtime. Neither team scored in the 3-on-3 overtime period, sending the game to a shootout. Maxwell Wagener put the Saints up a goal before Buchholz sent it to sudden death on the Beavers third attempt. Jerome and the Saints Hunter Floris both scored in the sixth round, as did the Beavers Reece Henry and the Saints Jack Henderson in the eighth round, before Jake Chartier ended it in the eleventh round for the Saints.
Rounding out the Top 5 was University of Jamestown (15-2-0) which won two of its three games at the Capper Hockey Chicago Showcase in Romeoville, Ill. Friday night against University of Nevada-Las Vegas, goals by Bradley Golant and Heath Mensch just 45 seconds apart in the first period was all the offense the Rebels needed for a 2-1 victory over the Jimmies. The Jimmies rebounded on Saturday with a 3-1 win over University of Michigan-Dearborn and a 6-5 win on Sunday over Arizona State University. Brad Fortin had a goal and an assist against the Wolverines to go with a goal and three assists against the Sun Devils.
Moving into the polls this week is No. 21 Northwood University, No. 22 University of Delaware, No. 24 Stony Brook University, and No. 25 Drexel University, while Grand Valley State University, Arizona State University, University of Central Oklahoma, and Waldorf University drop 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 six (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
- (WCHL) Western Collegiate Hockey League
- (WHAC) Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference
The ninth ranking of the regular season will be released on Wednesday, December 11, 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 #8 | |||||
| Rank | School Name | M1 Record | Previous | Trend | Conference |
| 1 | Ohio | 10-2-0 | 3 | ↑2 | INDEP |
| 2 | Adrian | 12-1-2 | 4 | ↑2 | GL6 |
| 3 | Liberty | 11-4-2 | 7 | ↑4 | INDEP |
| 4 | Minot State | 14-2-2 | 1 | ↓3 | MCH |
| 5 | Jamestown | 15-2-0 | 2 | ↓3 | MCH |
| 6 | Nevada-Las Vegas | 12-1-0 | 5 | ↓1 | WCHL |
| 7 | Niagara | 13-2-1 | 6 | ↓1 | INDEP |
| 8 | Maryville | 11-5-2 | 8 | ― | INDEP |
| 9 | Drury | 15-1-0 | 10 | ↑1 | INDEP |
| 10 | Utah | 9-3-1 | 11 | ↑1 | WCHL |
| 11 | Calvin | 14-2-0 | 9 | ↓2 | GL6 |
| 12 | Indiana Tech | 14-2-0 | 15 | ↑3 | WHAC |
| 13 | Grand Canyon | 7-3-1 | 12 | ↓1 | WCHL |
| 14 | Oklahoma | 13-3-1 | 13 | ↓1 | WCHL |
| 15 | Mary | 12-5-0 | 14 | ↓1 | MCH |
| 16 | Arizona | 6-8-0 | 16 | ― | WCHL |
| 17 | Oswego State | 12-4-3 | 18 | ↑1 | NECHL |
| 18 | Midland | 9-11-1 | 17 | ↓1 | MCH |
| 19 | Purdue Northwest | 6-6-0 | 19 | ― | GL6 |
| 20 | Davenport | 12-9-0 | 24 | ↑4 | GL6 |
| 21 | Northwood | 14-2-0 | NR | ↑5 | GLCHL |
| 22 | Delaware | 8-7-2 | NR | ↑4 | ESCHL |
| 23 | Missouri State | 8-8-2 | 25 | ↑2 | WCHL |
| 24 | Stony Brook | 6-7-2 | NR | ↑2 | ESCHL |
| 25 | Drexel | 11-3-0 | 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.
