Lions Sweep Iowa State University, Clinch Central States Collegiate Hockey League Regular Season Championship

UNION LAKE, Mich. – (February 6, 2019) – For the tenth consecutive poll, Lindenwood University holds the top spot in the 2018-2019 American Collegiate Hockey Association Men's Division-I Ranking, No. 14.  Lindenwood (22-1-0) swept No. 4 Iowa State University (15-4-1) on the road in Ames, Iowa to clinch the Central States Collegiate Hockey League Regular Season Championship.  On Friday, Iowa State goalie Matt Goedeke tried to steal a win for the Cyclones by making 37 saves through regulation and overtime, but Ryan Finnegan and Jake Townsend scored in the shootout to give the Lions the 2-1 overtime-shootout victory.  Saturday, Lindenwood raced to a 4-1 lead midway through the second period and posted a 5-3 win, as Aapo Nurminen, Jordan Klimovsky, and Finnegan each tallied a goal and an assist.  Goedeke notched 34 more saves in defeat while Cooper Seedott turned aside 30 shots for the Lions.

The University of Michigan-Dearborn (15-1-1) swept a home-and-home series with Concordia Ann Arbor to hold onto the No. 2 spot.  The Wolverines hammered the Cardinals on Friday night 14-1, amassing 49 shots on goal as Andrew Spiegel, Justin Dunn, Kevin Bechard, Billy Brock, and John Barlow each had two goals on the night.  Saturday night, the Wolverines outdid themselves and pounded the Cardinals with 59 shots on goal but were only able to skate away with a 4-1 victory.  Tyler Groat tallied two goals while Brock dished out three assists.   

Adrian College (24-1-0) squeezed out a pair of road wins over Robert Morris University Illinois to remain in the No. 3 spot.  Despite 91 shots on goal combined Friday night, the score was knotted at 2-2 after regulation and the mandatory 3-on-3 overtime.  The shootout was no different, going to sudden death in the sixth round before Brenden Stanko netted the game winner for the Bulldogs.  The Eagles’ Christoper Mallon was spectacular in goal with 49 saves while counterpart Michael Barrett blocked 39 shots for the Bulldogs.  Saturday, the Eagles held Adrian scoreless for the first period before the floodgates opened up and the Bulldogs added three goals in both the second and third periods for a 6-1 win.  Despite the loss, Cole Semchak was brilliant in defeat turning aside 49 shots while the Bulldogs were led by two goals each from Justin Fisher and Domenic Moore.

Ohio University (15-3-5) rounds out the Top 5 as the Bobcats swept visiting Syracuse University at Bird Arena in Athens, Ohio.  On Friday night, Ohio jumped out to a 3-0 lead only to have the Orange battle back to trail 4-3 after two periods.  The Bobcats iced the game with a pair of goals in the last ten minutes of regulation for a 6-3 win.  Gianni Evangelisti netted the hat trick for Ohio as Jimmy Thomas turned away 28 shots while his counterpart Jake Kahler repelled 30 shots of his own for the Orange.  Saturday night, Thomas posted the shutout and Gabe Lampron lit the lamp twice while adding an assist as the Bobcats rolled 4-0 despite 33 saves from Syracuse’s Michael Cuozzo.

Moving into the polls this week is No. 25 Illinois State University while Arizona State University drops out of the Top 25.

The Central States Collegiate Hockey League leads the way with all five of its member teams ranked, while the Western Collegiate Hockey League has six (of 8) of its member teams ranked, the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League has four (of 6) of its member teams ranked, and the Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League has three (of 8) 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 16 seasons, 12 different schools have won the ACHA Men's Division-I National Championship: Lindenwood (3), Central Oklahoma (2), Illinois (2), Adrian, Arizona State, Davenport, Delaware, Minot State, Oakland, Ohio, Penn State, and Rhode Island.

In its 28th season of action, there have been a total of 14 schools that have won the ACHA Men's Division-I National Championship:

• Penn State (5 times)
• Ohio (4)
• Lindenwood (3)
• Central Oklahoma (2)
• Illinois (2)
• North Dakota State (2)
• Adrian
• Arizona State
• Davenport
• Delaware
• Iowa State
• Minot State
• Oakland
• Rhode Island

A total of 60 teams are competing in Men’s Division-I this season, including two new teams: the University of Toledo and William Paterson University. The two teams that have departed Men’s Division-I include Midland University and Saint Bonaventure University.

The computer ranking will for the sixth time determine the 20 teams that qualify for the 2019 ACHA Men's Division-I National Championships, which will include the following six autobids:

• (CHMA) College Hockey Mid-America (PLAYOFF CHAMPION)
• (ECHA) Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association (REGULAR SEASON CHAMPION)
• (ESCHL) Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (REGULAR SEASON CHAMPION)
• (GLCHL) Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League (REGULAR SEASON CHAMPION)
• (NECHL) Northeast Collegiate Hockey League (PLAYOFF CHAMPION)
• (WCHL) Western Collegiate Hockey League (REGULAR SEASON CHAMPION)

The 2019 ACHA Men's Division-I National Championships will be hosted March 21-26 for the first time by the Dallas Sports Commission, Dallas Stars, and Children's Health StarCenters at the Comerica Center in Frisco, TX. This will be the eighth year of the 20-team format.

The fifteenth ranking of the regular season will be released on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.