By Web Admin,

Article taken from achahockey.org



UNION LAKE, Mich. – (October 23, 2019) – Adrian College received 21 out of 26 first-place votes to remain in the top spot in the 2019-2020 ACHA Men's Division I Ranking No. 4. The Bulldogs swept University of Delaware right out of the Top 25 after a pair of home wins at Arrington Ice Arena, 4-1 on Friday and 8-1 on Saturday to improve to 6-0-0 on the season.

Lindenwood University received 4 first-place votes and skated up to the No. 2 position after sweeping a home-and-home Central States Collegiate Hockey League series over University of Illinois. Friday at the Big Pond in Champaign, Ill., the Lions gutted out a 4-1 win before returning home to the Centene Community Ice Center on Saturday and pummeling the Fighting Illini 8-0 as Cooper Seedott stopped all 21 shots he faced for the shutout victory.

Minot State (2-0-2), the defending Men's Division I National Champions of the American Collegiate Hockey Association, slid down a spot to No. 3 after sweeping a pair of road games in Great Falls, Mont. over University of Providence. The Beavers head to the Chicago Classic this weekend to battle with host University of Illinois, Davenport University, and University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

Improving to a perfect 9-0-0 on the season and moving up a spot to No. 4 was Liberty University. The Flames swept Syracuse University (4-2, 4-1) in the friendly confines of the LaHaye Center in Lynchburg, Va. and received the other first-place vote.

Rounding out the top five was University of Michigan-Dearborn which split its Wolverine- Hoosier road series with Indiana Tech. The Wolverines struck for a 3-1 win on Friday but Alex Potter played spoiler for the Warriors on Saturday by scoring with only 32 seconds left in the game for the 3-2 win and the Wolverines first regulation loss of the season.

Moving into the polls this week is No. 25 University of Pittsburgh while University of Delaware dropped out of the Top 25.

The Central States Collegiate Hockey League (5) leads the way with all of its member teams ranked, while the Western Collegiate Hockey League has five (of 7) 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 7) of its member teams ranked.

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:

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, which will not commence until after November 1, will for the seventh time determine the 20 teams that qualify for the 2020 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 fifth ranking of the regular season will be released on Friday, November 1, 2019, as the ranking system switches to a computer poll from a coaches poll.

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.

2019-2020 ACHA Men's Division 1 Ranking #4 Rank School Name 1st Votes M1 Record Pts Previous 1 Adrian 21 6-0-0 547 1 2 Lindenwood 4 6-2-0 506 3 3 Minot State 2-0-2 499 2 4 Liberty 1 9-0-0 489 5 5 Michigan-Dearborn 4-1-1 465 4 6 Ohio 6-0-0 455 6 7 Iowa State 6-4-0 400 7 8 Nevada-Las Vegas 10-1-0 374 10 9 Illinois 3-2-1 352 8 10 Central Oklahoma 5-5-0 346 9 11 Arizona 6-1-1 328 12 12 Davenport 3-2-0 294 11 13 Stony Brook 6-0-0 293 13 14 Oklahoma 5-1-0 274 14 15 Indiana Tech 5-2-0 218 18 16 Jamestown 2-2-0 216 15 17 Robert Morris Illinois 4-3-1 181 17 18 Missouri State 3-5-1 178 16 19 Drexel 5-1-1 159 19 20 Midland 5-4-0 108 20 21 Arizona State 8-3-1 85 24 22 Rhode Island 5-3-0 49 23 23 Western Michigan 3-5-0 48 22 24 Syracuse 1-4-1 46 21 25 Pittsburgh 7-1-0 31 NR

Others receiving votes: Niagara, Oakland, Robert Morris Pennsylvania, Colorado State, Delaware, Lawrence Tech, West Chester, Illinois State, and Aquinas.

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