The Lindenwood Lions won their 4th straight CSCHL title and will be the No. 3 seed in this year’s ACHA National Tournament. (Photo courtesy Lindenwood Athletics)
by Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
The American Collegiate Hockey Association released its 2021 National Championship Tournament bracket on Wednesday, with the entire 16-team, 15-game event set to be played at the Maryville University Hockey Center in Chesterfield, April 16-20.
Three local teams earned a berth in this year’s ACHA nationals, including Maryville, McKendree, and 15-1 Lindenwood University, which received the No. 3 overall seed. The Lions will play No. 14 seed Canisius in the second game of the tournament’s first day, which is scheduled for Friday, April 16 at 1:30 p.m.
The winner of that game will move on to Sunday (Day 3 of the tournament) and play the winner of Day 2’s second game, which will be No. 6 seed Minot State versus No. 11 seed Calvin. From there, the winner will advance to the semifinals, which will be played on Monday, followed by the championship game which is set for Tuesday, April 20 at 7 p.m.
Maryville, the tournament’s No. 13 seed, will play Day 1’s opening game against No. 4 seed Liberty. McKendree, which earned the final slot in this year’s bracket, will play ACHA national’s No. 1 overall seed Adrian, in the final game of Day 1.
Lindenwood, which won its fourth straight CSCHL conference championship two weekends ago, is looking for its fourth ACHA national title while also looking to avenge its most recent ACHA tournament loss, which came in the 2019 semifinals to Canisius.
2021 ACHA National Tournament
Friday, April 16
Game 1 – #4 Liberty (9-4) vs. #13 Maryville (10-6) – 10:15 am
Game 2 – #3 Lindenwood (15-1) vs. #14 Canisius (11-6) – 1:30 pm
Game 3 – #2 Robert Morris (15-9) vs. #15 Davenport (3-6) – 4:45 pm
Game 4 – #1 Adrian (18-1) vs. #16 McKendree (4-6) – 8 pm
Saturday, April 17
Game 5 – #5 Ohio (15-5) vs. #12 Missouri St. (10-8) – 10:15 am
Game 6 – #6 Minot St. (11-7) vs. #11 Calvin (11-9) – 1:30 pm
Game 7 – #7 Indiana Tech (11-8) vs. #10 Jamestown (12-10) – 4:45 pm
Game 8 – #8 Iowa St. (13-9-1) vs. #9 Aquinas (13-11) – 8 pm
Sunday, April 18
Game 9 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 5 winner – 10:15 am
Game 10 – Game 2 winner vs. Game 6 winner – 1:30 pm
Game 11 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 7 winner – 4:45 pm
Game 12 – Game 4 winner vs. Game 8 winner – 8 pm
Monday, April 19
Semifinal #1 – 3:30 pm
Semifinal #2 – 7 pm
Tuesday, April 20
Championship Game – 7 pm