As the regular season draws to a close, Missouri's club hockey team has qualified for the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Championship for the second year in a row. The Tigers secured the top seed in Pool D and will enter the championship in fourth place overall. The tournament will be held in St. Louis, Missouri and will feature the top 16 teams from Division III.
Missouri State begins group play against the No. 13 ranked Michigan State Spartans on March 7 at 5:15 p.m. After the opener, they will return to action and play Central Maine and Air Force the next two nights. After all four teams have played, only the team with the best performance in those matches will qualify for the semi-finals, which will be held on March 11th.
The toughest opponent in the group will be the fifth-seeded Air Force Falcons. This will be his sixth appearance in the past seven years. The Air Force has proven to be a force in these playoffs in the past, and this year they are led by forward Brett Oberle, who scored 31 goals on the season. Air Force is hungry for revenge after losing to Missouri State 7-5 in last year's national championship.
Because the Missouri hockey team is a club, it can be overshadowed by D1 sports. The Tigers have had a lot of success in recent history, including winning back-to-back MACHA Conference Championships in 2023 and 2024.
This year, they defeated KU 12-7 in the MACHA Championship Game on February 11th. This allowed them to qualify for the ACHA playoffs for the second consecutive year. This year, however, the team has different expectations heading into the ACHA playoffs. Sophomore forward Tryg Johnson shared his thoughts on this year's team.
“Our expectations for this year are high,” Johnson said. “Last year, we were eliminated from the Nationals by Hope College in pool play and finished eighth in the nation. If we finish below where we started this year, it would mean we missed our preseason expectations.”
Not only is this team expected to win the national championship, but they have shown throughout the year that they are capable of bringing back the title to Columbia. Missouri State boasts a 22-4-1 record and has had success against several strong opponents.
Two of the biggest contributors to Missouri's success this year are forwards Nick Spolek and Andrew Knapp. These two players alone have scored a total of 120 points, with Spolec averaging 2.6 points per game. Spolek has assisted on 45 goals in just 25 games this season, and many of those assists have come in handy for Knapp. Knapp was Missouri's leading scorer this year with 34 goals.
Despite the team's recent success, hockey in Missouri is still a club sport, so the team still needs money. Much of the team's funding comes from player-run events. The team has organized a GoFundMe where anyone can donate towards the cost of the domestic trip. The team's recent success provides new opportunities for the future of Missouri club hockey. They are aiming to move up from Division III to Division II for the 2024-25 season.
In the final regular season game on February 29, the University of Missouri lost to the Jayhawks 6-4. This loss should give the team a spark heading into the playoffs as they look to take home the hardware.
Edited by Grace Ainger | gainer@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com
Edited by Genevieve Smith | gsmith@themaneater.com
