Women's D-II Releases Fourth Ranking of 2019-20 Season

Boston College, Rowan University and Assiniboine Community College Stay at #1

TROY, Mich. – Feb. 6, 2020 – The American Collegiate Hockey Association’s (ACHA) Women’s Division II (W2) today announced the fourth rankings of the 2019-2020 season. The results are based on games played and reported by Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020.

Each of the season’s six ranking periods will highlight the top eight teams from the division’s three regions – Northeast, Southeast and West. Only games played between two ACHA W2 teams count towards rankings, and teams must play a minimum of five different W2 opponents and at least 10 total games to be eligible for Nationals.

Ultimately, the top four teams from each region determined by the computer ranking will receive invitations to the 2020 ACHA National Championships, returning to Frisco, Texas in March 2020. Of the division’s 53 total programs, the following W2 teams secured top eight spots in their region for ranking period four:

NORTHEAST REGION

1.Boston College

2.University of New Hampshire

3.University of Vermont

4.Northeastern University

5.Boston University

6.Merrimack College

7.Providence College

8.Saint Anselm College

SOUTHEAST REGION

1.Rowan University

2.Liberty University

3.Mercyhurst University

4.University of Delaware

5.United States Naval Academy

6.University at Buffalo

7.California University of Pennsylvania

8.University of Pittsburgh

WEST REGION

1.Assiniboine Community College

2.Lakehead University

3.Northern Michigan University

4.University of Mich.-Dearborn

5.North Dakota State University

6.University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

7.Adrian College

8.University of Minnesota-Duluth

What has changed: In the Northeast, University of New Hampshire moved up to second, pushing University of Vermont down one spot into third. Merrimack College took the sixth spot, swapping places with Providence College, now ranked at seven. In the Southeast, the top five spots remained steady, but University at Buffalo inched up to sixth moving California University of Pennsylvania down to seven; and University of Pittsburgh appeared in place of Villanova University at eight. In the West, University of Mich.-Dearborn dropped from two to four, leaving room for Lakehead University to return to the second spot and Northern Michigan University to land at three. University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse swapped up into sixth, dropping Adrian College down to ranking seven.

The fifth W2 ranking period will end on Feb. 16, 2020, during which time over 50 new games will be played to contribute to the next ranking.

Five teams have withdrawn from an invitation to Nationals, and will not be included in the rankings for the remainder of the season: Bentley University, Union College, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, University of Wisconsin Stout and Westfield State.

The following four conferences with at least six W2 ACHA member teams will be offered one automatic bid for their top team to the W2 National Tournament: Central Collegiate Women’s Hockey Association (CCWHA), College Hockey East (CHE), the Women’s Delaware Valley Collegiate Hockey Conference (DVCHC) and the Independent Women’s Club Ice Hockey League (IWCHL). In the event that an unranked team is offered an auto bid, they will take the place of the lowest ranked team in their region.

The final date that games will count towards W2 rankings this season is March 1, 2020. In partnership with the Dallas Stars, Visit Frisco and Children's Health StarCenters, the 2020 ACHA Women’s Division II National Championships will begin Wednesday, March 25, 2020. The W2 championship game will be held Sunday, March 29, 2020.

Follow the W2 schedule and standings here.