GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The University of Providence men's hockey team was ranked 14^th in the latest edition of the ACHA National Rankings. The Argos (2-5) dropped two shots from their 12^th ranking in the first edition of the poll two weeks ago.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACHA National Tournament will be decided by the National Rankings. There will be no regional tournaments to determine qualifiers, and instead the Top 16 teams in the final rankings will determine the seedings.

"Obviously we haven't played games since the first rankings came out," head coach Jeff Heimel said. "It's encouraging that we are where we need to be still but obviously we're looking forward to getting back on the ice to compete."

All three of the teams that the Argos have played so far this season are in the Top 10. The University of Mary is atop the poll at #1 and Dakota College of Bottineau is #4. Williston State, whom the Argos swept earlier in the year, are ranked #7.Though the tough schedule hurts the team record-wise, Heimel believes it has only made the team better.

"Anytime you play someone that has been competing and is well-ranked, it's going to make you better," he said. "On one hand, we could have maybe benefited from some easier games early on just to shift through some stuff after being off for a long break, but at the end of the day it's only helped us from this point."

The slight drop in the rankings hasn't hurt the team's vibe at all, and has in fact motivated the squad. 

"We can get tons better," Heimel said. "We have so much upside. That's the exciting part, I feel like we're at the bottom right now from a capability perspective."

The Argos are next scheduled to take the ice on March 26 in a pair of home games against the top-seeded University of Mary.