ADRIAN COLLEGE NO. 1 FOR TWELFTH CONSECUTIVE WEEK IN AMERICAN COLLEGIATE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION MEN’S DIVISION 1 RANKING

Bulldogs Off to Perfect 22-0-0 Start

UNION LAKE, Mich. – (February 5, 2020) – For the twelfth consecutive ranking, Adrian College (22-0-0) remains in the top spot in the 2019-2020 American Collegiate Hockey Association Men's Division 1 Ranking No. 14.  The Bulldogs got its 21st and 22nd victories of the season after sweeping Calvin University in a home-and-home conference series (9-0, 7-1), as Brenden Stanko, Chris Donaldson, and Henrik Overvall each had a pair of goals as thirteen different Bulldogs notched a goal in the weekend series.

No. 2 Liberty University (23-4-0) swept Rhode Island in the friendly confines of the LaHaye Center in a pair of conference games (6-0, 7-1).  Arturas Laukaitis led the way for the Flames with two goals and three assists while Josh Fricks and Cole Gammer each chipped in two goals and two assists.  Hunter Virostek turned aside 31 of 32 shots to get the win both nights in goal.

No. 3 Lindenwood University (17-7-0) split its series with University of Oklahoma at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Mo.  The Sooners upset the Lions 3-1 on Friday night as Phil Babb was spectacular in goal making 54 saves before Isaac Bosse broke a 1-1 tie with only 1:03 left in the 3rd period for the game-winning goal.  Trevor Finch added an empty net goal for the final margin of victory.  Saturday, the Lions pumped another 52 shots on Babb, but were finally able to solve him for three goals and come away with a 3-1 win.  Hayden Ursulak got the game winner early in the second period while Victor Lombardi and Tommy Heinzman nothched the other Lion goals.

No. 4 Minot State University (13-4-3), the defending Men's Division I National Champions of the American Collegiate Hockey Association, defeated Dakota College 7-0 at the Bottineau Community Arena in its only game of the weekend.

The University of Arizona (22-3-3) rounds out the top 5 after three conference road wins in the state of Colorado.  The Wildcats started with a 4-1 win in Fort Collins over Colorado State University as Anthony Ciurro turned aside 30 shots on goal.  Arizona then traveled down the road to Boulder and swept a pair of games over University of Colorado (4-2, 7-1) as Greg Malafronte tallied six points (3 goals and 3 assists).

Moving into the polls this week is No. 25 Robert Morris University Illinois while McKendree University drops out of the Top 25.

The Central States Collegiate Hockey League (5) leads the way with all of its member teams ranked, while the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League has four (of 6) of its member teams ranked, the Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League and Western Collegiate Hockey League both have four (of 7) of its member teams ranked, and the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference has three (of 6) 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 17 seasons, 12 different schools have won the ACHA Men's Division I National Championship: Lindenwood (3), Central Oklahoma (2), Illinois (2), Minot State (2), Adrian, Arizona State, Davenport, Delaware, Oakland, Ohio, Penn State, and Rhode Island.

Now in its 29th 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)
• Minot State (2)
• North Dakota State (2)
• Adrian
• Arizona State
• Davenport
• Delaware
• Iowa State
• Oakland
• Rhode Island

A total of 70 teams will compete in Men’s Division I this season, including eleven new teams: Aquinas College, Cleary University, Concordia University Ann Arbor, Grand Canyon University, Indiana Tech, Lawrence Tech, Maryville University, McKendree University, Midland University, Northern Illinois University, and Waldorf University. The sole team departing Men’s Division I is University of Arkansas.

The computer ranking will for the seventh time determine the 20 teams that qualify for the 2020 ACHA Men's Division I National Championships, including 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 fifteenth ranking of the regular season will be released on Wednesday, February 12, 2020.

The 2020 ACHA Men's Division I National Championships will be hosted March 19-24 for the second time by the Dallas Stars, Visit Frisco, and Children’s Health StarCenters at the Comerica Center, in Frisco, TX. This will be the ninth year of the 20-team format.