Selection Show reveals first-round matchups, for March 13-18 ACHA DI men’s hockey National Championships

Liberty DI men's hockey celebrates selection — Liberty ACHA Division I men's hockey players celebrate their selection as the No. 4 seed for the National Championships near St. Louis.

Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team will be seeded fourth for the March 13-18 National Championships near St. Louis and play the winner of a first-round matchup between No. 13 Indiana Tech (28-4) and No. 20 Oswego State (20-7-4) in the round of 16 on March 14 at 11:15 a.m. EST in the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Mo. The seedings for the 24-team tournament were determined by the final national rankings, factoring in nine autobids for conference tournament champions.

"It was nice to find out where we are at, and nice to make a game plan to move forward," Head Coach and Club Sports Athletic Director Kirk Handy said, noting his team has 10 more practices before it travels to St. Louis on March 11. "We're super familiar with (Centene Center), and excited to get going. Our focus up until now has been on getting there. Now we turn our focus on being successful at this tournament."

The independent Flames (23-5-5), who will be making their ninth consecutive nationals appearance and 17th in 19 seasons at the DI level, are in the same quadrant of the tournament bracket as No. 5-seeded Jamestown (N.D.) University, which they could potentially face in the quarterfinals on March 16 at 11:15 a.m. EST — if Liberty advances and the Jimmies (23-11-3) defeat the winner of the game between No. 21 Delaware (24-12-3) and No. 12 Grand Canyon University (15-13-2).

"It's a good bracket for us," Handy said. "We're excited about it. We're going to take it one game at a time, one shift at a time."

Other teams receiving first-round byes are No. 1 Minot (N.D.) State, No. 2 UNLV, No. 3 Ohio University, No. 6 defending national champion Adrian (Mich.) University, No. 7 Niagara (N.Y.) University, and No. 8 Utah. Ohio has the most national titles of any of the 24 teams in the field with four, but only one in the past 21 seasons. Defending national champion Adrian and Minot State have both raised three Murdoch Cups.

The remaining first-round matchups pit No. 16 Midland (Neb.) University against No. 17 Purdue Northwest; No. 15 Arizona against No. 18 Oklahoma; No. 14 University of Mary (N.D.) against No. 19 Pittsburgh; No. 11 Calvin (Mich.) University against No. 22 John Carroll (Ohio) University; No. 10 Maryville (Mo.) University against No. 23 Northwood (Mich.) University; and No. 9 Drury (Mo.) University against No. 24 West Chester (Pa.).

For the first time since 2014, Liberty hosted a live streaming of the DI men's hockey National Championship Selection Show out of its Liberty Broadcast Experience studios in Green Hall on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, the Flames' players and coaches tuned in live from their team room in the LaHaye Ice Center, as many other teams around the nation did from their respective campuses.

"What a great opportunity to showcase what God has blessed us with here at Liberty," Handy said of hosting the show on campus for a nationwide audience.

For the second year in a row and the second time in program history, Liberty has qualified all five of its men's and women's hockey teams for their respective national tournaments. The DI women's hockey team will compete for its seventh national championship in program history from March 17-21 after having its ACHA-record five-season run as champions ended in the semifinals by Minot State in double overtime last March near St. Louis.

Liberty's DII men's team received its sixth consecutive autobid to the March 14-18 tournament and its DII women's team, which won its first two games in national tournament history last spring, will conclude National Championships competition from March 21-25. The Flames' DIII men's team will compete in the AAU National Championships from March 18-25 in Jacksonville, Fla.

"That is huge," Handy said. "What a great opportunity to have all the teams at Liberty go on to nationals and have all the teams (in St. Louis) that we can. We want to live out Colossians 3:17 while we are there, to be great representatives of the Lord in what we're doing and in the way we do it."

Tuesday night's live production was anchored by Liberty Sports Production Coordinating Producer Rett McGibbon and Club Sports Director of Video & Media Patrick Strawn, and Annie Cory, who regularly broadcast Flames hockey games at all levels in the LaHaye Ice Center in addition to hosting the weekly Rock the Rink podcast out of the studio. Cory, an LBX broadcast apprentice who serves as a sideline reporter for ESPN+, conducted interviews with coaches from around the ACHA. McGibbon, Strawn, and Cory were complemented by Michigan Sports Radio Broadcaster Lou Gamelin in offering analysis and previewing the tournament, with each giving their predictions for the 2025 Final Four teams and tournament champion.

"It's a great bracket and it's going to be a grind, with the parity throughout the league," McGibbon said. "When you're trying to create scenarios and look at your final four, you can legitimately make a case for upsets here and there that very well could happen, but then you could also say the final four are going to be the top four (seeds), and that very well could happen. It's a wild year in the ACHA."

"Last year, you saw multiple teams pull some upsets, especially on Day 1, but that's what makes this tournament so exciting," Strawn added.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Liberty Broadcast Network video

Selection Show reveals first-round matchups, for March 13-18 ACHA DI men’s hockey National Championships

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