Men's Hockey Powers Past No. 2 Lawrence Tech, Faces No. 1 Air Force for ACHA Division 3 Title

The Hope College men's hockey team's last skate at the ACHA Division 3 level is for all the marbles.

The third-ranked Flying Dutchmen will play top-ranked Air Force Academy in the national championship game on Saturday, March 22, at 7 p.m. Central in St. Louis, Missouri.

Hope (34-4-1) advanced by dethroning defending national champion and second-ranked Lawrence Tech, 5-0, in Friday's national semifinals. Air Force topped Oakland University, 4-3, in the other semifinal.

The Flying Dutchmen are moving up to the ACHA Division 1 level for the 2025-26 season.

Hope has excelled at the Division 3 level, skating to national titles in 2022, 2021 and 2018, and four national runner-up finishes.

"They're disciplined. They're smart players," head coach Chris VanTimmeren said of his team's final ACHA Division 3 opponent. "They have very skilled forwards. They're a physical team."

After rallying to advance out of pool play and reaching the national semifinals, the Flying Dutchmen did not leave any doubt from the opening puck drop.

Two power-play goals in both the first and second periods gave Hope a commanding four-goal lead.

Nine minutes and 42 seconds into the first period, junior center Jake Onstott (Zeeland, Michigan / Grand Rapids Catholic Central HS) broke a scoreless tie by scoring with a man advantage.

Four-and-a-half minutes later, junior defenseman Austin Ieuter (Midland, Michigan / H.H Dow) struck again on the power play for a 2-0 lead.

After a Lawrence Tech check to the head put the Flying Dutchmen on the power play for five minutes, Hope converted twice in 1:14 to double up the score on goals from freshman center Ryan Jaros (Portage, Michigan / Portage Northern) and junior forward Gunnar Suidinski (Wyoming, Michigan / Grandville).

Senior defenseman Nolan Holtrop (Walker, Michigan / Kenowa Hills) closed the scoring with 1:23 remaining in the third period.

Hope received a shutout performance from senior goaltender Maclane Schick (Kohler, Wisconsin / Kohler).

The victory was the Flying Dutchmen's second over Lawrence Tech in 13 days. Hope won, 5-2, on March 8 in the Michigan College Hockey Conference Vezina Cup final.

"Our ability to skate out of our defensive zone and enter on odd-man rushes really pressured them back on their heels," Van Timmeren said. "We did a great job of being patient in the offensive zone and finding the guys who were open. We had a lot of scoring chances. The power play made the difference."We wanted to be really focused this game because we haven't been in the past three games. We were."

Gallery: (3-22-2025) ACHA Semifinals vs. Lawrence Tech

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Players Mentioned

#9 Nolan Holtrop: D; 6' 1"; Senior

#18 Austin Ieuter: D; 6' 0"; Junior

#17 Jake Onstott: C; 5' 11"; Junior

#30 Maclane Schick: G; 6' 1"; Senior

#21 Gunnar Suidinski: F; 5' 9"; Junior

#13 Ryan Jaros: C; 5' 9"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#9 Nolan Holtrop
: 6' 1"; Senior
: D

#18 Austin Ieuter
: 6' 0"; Junior
: D

#17 Jake Onstott
: 5' 11"; Junior
: C

#30 Maclane Schick
: 6' 1"; Senior
: G

#21 Gunnar Suidinski
: 5' 9"; Junior
: F

#13 Ryan Jaros
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: C