Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Thursday, March 12
St. Louis, MO
Liberty University Club Sports
at
ACHA National Tournament
Sophomore forward Kal Essenmacher and the Flames received an excellent seeding for the March 12-17 ACHA Division I National Championships near St. Louis. (Photo by Grace Greer)
Flames seeded fifth for ACHA DI National Championships near St. Louis
2/25/2026 9:40:00 AM | Men's D1 Hockey
Liberty will face the winner between No. 12 Utah and No. 21 Northwood in the second round, set for March 14 at 11:15 a.m. EST.
Liberty University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team moved up one spot to No. 5 in the final regular season rankings and qualified for its 10th consecutive trip to the March 12-17 National Championships at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryville Heights, Mo.
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Tuesday night's ACHA Division I National Championship Selection Show, hosted by Liberty Broadcast Experience in the "Flames Central" studios in Marie F. Green Hall, revealed the seedings for the entire field of teams that made the cut, including the Flames, one of five independent programs seeded in the top seven.
Liberty will await the winner of the first-round game between No. 12 University of Utah — a team it swept at the LaHaye Ice Center on Oct. 3-4, winning a shootout in the rematch — and No. 21 Northwood (Mich.) University.
Should the Flames advance past that round, they could potentially face No. 4-seeded reigning national champion UNLV, which rallied from a 2-0 deficit to oust Liberty in the semifinals last season. That was the Flames' third Final Four appearance in the past five seasons.
"I'm proud of our guys getting the No. 5 seed," Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "That just shows a lot of hard work throughout the season and perseverance. We are focused on our first game, and we'll take it game by game."
In all, 17 of the 24 teams in the field return from last season's tournament. In 35 years of ACHA hockey, 15 different teams have raised the Murdoch Trophy as champion of the Division I men's division.
The entire tournament bracket is available on the ACHA website, and will be streamed live by FloHockey throughout the week.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video edited by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media
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Tuesday night's ACHA Division I National Championship Selection Show, hosted by Liberty Broadcast Experience in the "Flames Central" studios in Marie F. Green Hall, revealed the seedings for the entire field of teams that made the cut, including the Flames, one of five independent programs seeded in the top seven.
Liberty will await the winner of the first-round game between No. 12 University of Utah — a team it swept at the LaHaye Ice Center on Oct. 3-4, winning a shootout in the rematch — and No. 21 Northwood (Mich.) University.
Should the Flames advance past that round, they could potentially face No. 4-seeded reigning national champion UNLV, which rallied from a 2-0 deficit to oust Liberty in the semifinals last season. That was the Flames' third Final Four appearance in the past five seasons.
"I'm proud of our guys getting the No. 5 seed," Liberty Head Coach Kirk Handy said. "That just shows a lot of hard work throughout the season and perseverance. We are focused on our first game, and we'll take it game by game."
In all, 17 of the 24 teams in the field return from last season's tournament. In 35 years of ACHA hockey, 15 different teams have raised the Murdoch Trophy as champion of the Division I men's division.
The entire tournament bracket is available on the ACHA website, and will be streamed live by FloHockey throughout the week.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video edited by Patrick Strawn/Club Sports Director of Video & Media
2026 Men's DI ACHA National Selection Show
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