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

Bulldogs Begin 2020 With Quest for 2nd National Championship Title

UNION LAKE, Mich. – (January 15, 2020) – Adrian College (16-0-0) enters the new decade with the top spot in the 2019-2020 American Collegiate Hockey Association Men's Division 1 Ranking No. 11.  The Bulldogs were idle and start their 2020 portion of the season with a home and home conference series with Oakland University. 

No. 2 Liberty University (18-3-0) was also idle to begin 2020 and will jump back into action this weekend when it hosts No. 23 University of Delaware at the LaHaye Center in Lynchburg, Va.

No. 3 Minot State University (13-2-2), the defending Men's Division I National Champions of the American Collegiate Hockey Association, played a total of five games over the ranking period and won four of them.  The Beavers swept University of Jamestown to end 2019 (4-1, 2-0), as Blake Fournier and Drew Carter paced the Beavers offense with a pair of goals each.  The Beavers began 2020 by traveling to Las Vegas, Nev., where it ending up splitting a pair of games with host University of Nevada-Las Vegas and beating Grand Canyon University (8-1).  Minot State defeated the Rebels 5-2 on Thursday night as Johl Swedlo had the three goal hat trick and Joshua Bykowski made 26 saves in goal.  Sunday, however, the Rebels upset the Beavers 6-3 as John Moeller had the three goal hat trick.

No. 4 Lindenwood University (13-5-0) swept Missouri State University at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Mo.  Tommy Heinzman and Vegard Faret tallied goals in each game to pace the attack.  Cooper Seedott got the wins, stopping a total of 42 shots, while the Lions peppered the Bears goaltending duo of Bailey Stephens (47 saves) and Brady Griffin (45 saves) with over 50 shots on goal each night.   

Ohio University (15-4-3) rounds out the top 5 as it was able to sweep a pair of conference games over University of Illinois.  Friday night, the Bobcats trailed by two goals heading into the third period but Tyler Harkins knotted the score at 4-4 with only 1:01 left in regulation before burying the game-winner in overtime for the three goal hat trick on the night.  Gianni Evangelisti added a goal and assisted on all three of Harkins’ goals.  On Saturday, it was more Harkins magic as he potted two goals while goaltender Jimmy Thomas turned aside 23 shots as the Bobcats won 3-1.

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 twelfth ranking of the regular season will be released on Wednesday, January 22, 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.

# # #

About American Collegiate Hockey Association

The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) is a recognized 501(c)3 organization of over 500 college and university-affiliated programs which provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes the quality of collegiate ice hockey throughout the United States.  Headquartered in Troy, Michigan, the ACHA's primary mission is to support the growth and development of college hockey programs nationwide.  The ACHA identifies standards which serve to unite and regulate teams at the collegiate level and enters its 29th season in September 2019. For more information, visit achahockey.org.