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Liberty Solidifies No. 1 in Final Women's D-I Ranking of the Season

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – (February 25, 2019) – Without playing a game in their last week of the regular season, Liberty University secured the No. 1 spot in the final ranking period of the 2018-2019 American Collegiate Hockey Association Women’s Division-I season. The Flames (19-1-3) had eclipsed the second-ranked Adrian College, who had held the top spot for 11 consecutive weeks, in the previous ranking. The Bulldogs (22-3-1) won the Central Collegiate Women’s Hockey Association (CCWHA) League Championship by defeating Miami University (2-1) and Michigan State University (2-0).

Following behind are Lindenwood University – Belleville, Michigan State University and Miami University at the No.3, No. 4 and No. 5 spots respectively.

The Lynx (19-4-3) swept McKendree University 7-2 and 4-1 to lock down the No. 3 spot.  The Spartans (19-6-0) made it to the CCWHA Championship game, after defeating Grand Valley State University 6-2 to remain No. 4, and the Redhawks (14-7-4) hold onto No. 5 after having lost to Adrian 2-1.

The following is the final overall ranking:

1 - Liberty University

2 - Adrian College

3 - Lindenwood University - Belleville

4 - Michigan State University

5 - Miami (OH) University

6 - Grand Valley State University

7 - University of Minnesota *

8 - Mckendree University

9 - University of Colorado

10 - University of Massachusetts

11 - Midland University **

12 - University of Rhode Island

13 - Robert Morris University - IL

14 - University of Michigan

15 - Davenport University

16 - Arizona State University

17 - Penn State University

18 - Colorado State University

19 - University of Wisconsin

20 - Grand Canyon University

21 - Aquinas College

22 - University of Denver

23 - Concordia University – Ann Arbor

* - not eligible for Nationals

** - automatic bid from league Championship

The Central Collegiate Women’s Hockey Association leads the way with seven of their eight-member teams ranked, while the Western Women’s Collegiate Hockey League has three (of 7) of its member teams ranked, and the East Coast Women’s Hockey League has two (of 3) of its member teams ranked.

The computer ranking, along with the competition committee will determine the eight teams that qualify for the 2019 ACHA Women’s Division-I National Championships, which will include the following two automatic bids:

•  (CCWHA) Central Collegiate Women’s Hockey Association
•  (WWCHL) Western Women’s Collegiate Hockey League

A total of 23 teams are competing in Women’s Division-I this season, including one new team, Concordia University Ann Arbor.

The ACHA uses two computer rankings, Ranking A (Wins with goal differential of 7) and Ranking B (Wins with maximum goal differential of 1) to come up with an average of the two rankings. This is the first year we are only using computer rankings.

In its 19th season of action, there have been a total of nine schools that have won the ACHA Women’s Division-I National Championship:

•  Lindenwood (4 times)
•  Miami (3)
•  Liberty (2)
•  Michigan State (2)
•  Robert Morris (2)
•  Wisconsin (2)
•  Minnesota
•  Northeastern
•  St. Cloud State

The 2019 ACHA National Championships will be played at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas, as well as select Children’s Health StarCenter facilities. The Comerica Center is the home practice facility for the NHL Dallas Stars and its executive offices. The Children’s Health StarCenters are the Stars-led community ice rinks throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

In the best of three-game series, here are the 2019 W1 Nationals match-ups:

Liberty University (#1 seed) vs Midland University (#8)

Adrian College (#2) vs McKendree University (#7)

Lindenwood-Belleville (#3) vs Grand Valley State University (#6)

Michigan State University (#4) vs Miami University (#5)

More than 1,500 players from 72 teams across all five ACHA divisions (Men's Division I, II, and III, and Women's Division I and II) will converge upon the DFW metro area from March 21-31, 2019, to compete in more than 100 games.