Despite losses to a couple of top 10 teams, the Lions earned six first place votes and still claimed a share of second in the latest American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Men's Division I Ranking. Lindenwood split a tough road series with No. 4 Michigan – Dearborn last week, and split with No. 8 Central Oklahoma at home the previous week.
Defending national champion Minot State earned 12 first place votes and 616 points to claim the top spot once again, even though the Beavers dropped two games in overtime to No. 15 Jamestown. Adrian College won its first two games of the season against No. 19 Western Michigan, and moved from fifth to a share of second with the Lions. The Bulldogs received five first place votes out of 30 cast. Michigan – Dearborn received three first place votes after splitting with Lindenwood, and Iowa State dropped two spots into a tie for fifth with Liberty. The Cyclones split a series with Illinois State on the road while the Flames swept Alabama to move up two spots from seventh.
The Lions have another tough test on the road this weekend as they travel to Ames, Iowa to face Iowa State October 11-12. The Cyclones have been helped by Dylan Goggin who leads his team with three goals and two assists through the first four games. Ray Zimmerman has also been a factor with three goals and Payton McSharry has helped with two assists and a goal. Goaltender Nikita Kozak has been stellar between the pipes despite suffering a loss. He has a 1.25 goals against average and a .953 save percentage so far.
Lindenwood has struggled to score in its last three games, only getting three pucks to the back of the net. Despite the lack of production, the Lions continue to outshoot their opponents overall.
Hayden Ursulak and
Aapo Nurminen lead the team in goals with two each, and
Brendan Murphy and
Vegard Faret lead the team in points with three.
Cooper Seedott picked up right where he left off last season with solid play in goal. The Lindenwood junior has only given up five goals in four games for a 1.25 goals against average, and he has made 76 saves for a .938 save percentage.
The opening faceoff for the Lions versus the Cyclones is scheduled for 7 p.m. both Friday and Saturday night at the ISU Arena.
| 2019-2020 ACHA Men's Division 1 Ranking #2 |
| Rank |
School Name |
1st Votes |
M1 Record |
Pts |
Previous |
| 1 |
Minot State |
12 |
2-0-2 |
616 |
1 |
| T 2 |
Adrian |
5 |
2-0-0 |
586 |
5 |
| T 2 |
Lindenwood |
6 |
2-2-0 |
586 |
2 |
| 4 |
Michigan-Dearborn |
3 |
1-0-1 |
570 |
4 |
| T 5 |
Iowa State |
|
4-2-0 |
536 |
3 |
| T 5 |
Liberty |
4 |
5-0-0 |
536 |
7 |
| 7 |
Ohio |
|
4-0-0 |
532 |
6 |
| 8 |
Central Oklahoma |
|
3-3-0 |
438 |
8 |
| 9 |
Illinois |
|
2-0-0 |
427 |
10 |
| 10 |
Davenport |
|
2-2-0 |
388 |
9 |
| 11 |
Arizona |
|
3-1-1 |
387 |
11 |
| 12 |
Nevada-Las Vegas |
|
6-1-0 |
369 |
12 |
| 13 |
Stony Brook |
|
2-0-0 |
325 |
13 |
| 14 |
Oklahoma |
|
4-1-0 |
316 |
15 |
| 15 |
Jamestown |
|
2-0-0 |
309 |
17 |
| 16 |
Missouri State |
|
3-3-0 |
263 |
14 |
| 17 |
Robert Morris Illinois |
|
2-2-0 |
204 |
16 |
| 18 |
Syracuse |
|
1-0-1 |
199 |
18 |
| 19 |
Western Michigan |
|
2-2-0 |
156 |
19 |
| 20 |
Drexel |
|
2-1-1 |
130 |
21 |
| 21 |
Rhode Island |
|
3-1-0 |
126 |
20 |
| 22 |
Indiana Tech |
|
2-1-0 |
125 |
22 |
| 23 |
Midland |
|
4-1-0 |
108 |
23 |
| 24 |
Arizona State |
|
3-3-1 |
51 |
24 |
| 25 |
Delaware |
|
5-0-0 |
30 |
NR |
Others receiving votes: Illinois State, Niagara, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Robert Morris Pennsylvania, West Chester, Aquinas, Colorado, and Colorado State.
