OHIO UNIVERSITY SWEEPS NIAGARA UNIVERSITY OUT OF NO. 1 SPOT IN AMERICAN COLLEGIATE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION RANKING #9
Bobcats Hand Purple Eagles First Losses of the Year
UNION LAKE, Mich. – (December 10, 2025) – Ohio University (18-3-0), for the second time this season, takes over the top spot of 2025-2026 ACHA Men’s Division I Ranking #9 after sweeping last week’s top ranked team, Niagara University (14-2-0), at Bird Arena in Athens, Ohio. The Bobcats previously held the top spot in Ranking #5 while the losses dropped the Purple Eagles to No. 3 this week. Friday night, trailing 1-0 after one period of play on Charlie Belanger’s 13th goal of the season, the Bobcats got goals from Noah Holt and Drake Albers to head to the second period intermission up 2-1. The Bobcats’ power then struck twice early in the third period as Albers got his second goal of the game while Luc Reeve tallied his 14th goal of the season to go up 4-1. Aiden Kalin got one back for the Purple Eagles to make it 4-2 but Reeve finished off the scoring into an empty net for the 5-2 Bobcats victory. Bobcat goaltender Matt Zazon turned aside 25 shots for the win while counterpart Jacob Dubinsky took the loss despite making 39 saves. Saturday night, Bobcat Laker Aldridge got it started with his 11th goal of the season before a response from Peter Spameni tied it up after one period of play. Goals from Will Cohen and Mathieu Ovaert put the Bobcats up 3-1 after two periods. Kalin got his second of the weekend with 13:41 remaining in the third period but goaltender Scott Bird shut the door the rest of the way as the Purple Eagles could not get the equalizer despite playing the last 2:45 with an extra attacker. Bird finished with 29 saves for the win while Dubinsky was stellar once again recording 41 saves.
No. 2 Minot State University (14-1-1) went on the road and swept No. 8 Liberty University at LaHaye Ice Center in Lynchburg, Va. Friday’s midnight madness game saw five different Beavers tally goals in a 5-0 shutout victory. Colby Joseph, Joey Moffatt, Jaxon Grosdidier, Matt Egan, and Brett Tataryn had the goals while goaltender Will Dyke made 24 saves for the shutout win. Flames goaltender Konrad Kausch spurned 28 shots in defeat. Saturday evening, the Beavers led 2-0 after one period on goals from Sheldin Howard and Logan Cyca and 4-0 after two periods of play on goals from Joseph, his 13th of the season, and Tataryn. Ryan Finch finally solved goaltender Dyke in the third period with his 13th goal of the season, but the Beavers won 4-1. Dyke finished with 25 saves while Flames goaltender Nicholas Bernstein made 33 saves.
No. 4 University of Nevada-Las Vegas (13-3-0) hit the road and swept San Diego State University (9-0, 11-0) at Kroc Center Ice in San Diego, Calif. Leading the Rebels attack was Luke Backel (three goals, two assists), Dillon Kuntz (5 assists), Heath Mensch (four goals), Bryce Johnson (two goals, two assists), Sean Karaman (two goals, two assists), Charles Masek (goal, three assists), Jaxsen Wyatt (four assists), and Ryder McIntosh (four assists). The Rebels peppered Aztec goaltenders with 153 shots on goal as Brody Hsiao finished with 63 saves on Friday and teammate Liam Dee stopped 70 shots on Saturday.
Rounding out the Top 5 is Drury University (18-1-0), which swept Missouri State University at Brightspeed Ice Park in Springfield, Mo. Friday night, the Bears jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Lukas Ravenstein lit the lamp on the power play to cut the deficit to 2-1 after two periods of play. Russel Kosec got the equalizer with just 2:02 remaining in regulation. Neither team was able to score in the five minute three-on-three overtime, but Anmol Garcha and Luke Aston both scored for the Panthers in the shootout as goaltender Jozef Kuchaslo turned aside the two Bears attempts from Jack Wuertz and Landon Boothe for the 3-2 victory. Kuchaslo finished with 30 saves while Bears goaltender Brady Govero turned aside 39 shots. Saturday evening, Ravenstein put the Panthers up 2-1 after two periods with a power play goal. Justin Rapp tied it for the Bears with a power play goal just 5:13 into the third period, however, Aston responded just 1:17 later to break the tie as the Panthers again prevailed 3-2. Kuchaslo got the win in net making 36 saves while counterpart Artur Dzhilavyan finished with 37 saves.
Moving into the polls this week is No. 25 Colorado State University while Midland University drops out of the Top 25.
The Great Lakes 6 Hockey Conference leads the way with five (of 7) of its member teams ranked, while Western Collegiate Hockey League has seven (of 11) of its member teams ranked, Midwest College Hockey has three (of 7) of its member teams ranked, Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference has two (of 6) of its member teams ranked, and Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League has two (of 10) 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
- (WCHL) Western Collegiate Hockey League
- (WHAC) Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference
The tenth ranking of the regular season will be released on Wednesday, January 14, 2026.
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 #9 | |||||
| Rank | School Name | M1 Record | Previous | Trend | Conference |
| 1 | Ohio | 18-3-0 | 3 | ↑2 | INDEP |
| 2 | Minot State | 14-1-1 | 2 | ― | MCH |
| 3 | Niagara | 14-2-0 | 1 | ↓2 | INDEP |
| 4 | Nevada-Las Vegas | 13-3-0 | 4 | ― | WCHL |
| 5 | Drury | 18-1-0 | 5 | ― | INDEP |
| 6 | Jamestown | 11-8-0 | 7 | ↑1 | MCH |
| 7 | Adrian | 16-3-2 | 6 | ↓1 | GL6 |
| 8 | Liberty | 14-6-0 | 8 | ― | INDEP |
| 9 | Maryville | 8-6-0 | 9 | ― | INDEP |
| 10 | Mary | 13-6-1 | 11 | ↑1 | MCH |
| 11 | Calvin | 8-4-2 | 10 | ↓1 | GL6 |
| 12 | Grand Canyon | 11-4-0 | 13 | ↑1 | WCHL |
| 13 | Utah | 8-8-1 | 12 | ↓1 | WCHL |
| 14 | Arizona | 7-7-2 | 15 | ↑1 | WCHL |
| 15 | Hope | 16-5-0 | 14 | ↓1 | GL6 |
| 16 | Purdue Northwest | 10-9-1 | 16 | ― | GL6 |
| 17 | Grand Valley State | 10-5-2 | 23 | ↑6 | GL6 |
| 18 | Missouri State | 9-4-5 | 21 | ↑3 | WCHL |
| 19 | Stony Brook | 8-7-2 | 18 | ↓1 | ACCHL |
| 20 | Pittsburgh | 9-6-3 | 17 | ↓3 | ACCHL |
| 21 | Indiana Pennsylvania | 18-2-2 | 20 | ↓1 | CHMA |
| 22 | Cleary | 14-2-0 | 19 | ↓3 | WHAC |
| 23 | Arizona State | 6-9-3 | 25 | ↑2 | WCHL |
| 24 | Indiana Tech | 6-4-4 | 22 | ↓2 | WHAC |
| 25 | Colorado State | 9-5-4 | NR | ↑1 | 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 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.
