UNION LAKE, Mich. – The 2024‐2025 American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Men's Division I Player of the Year Award goes to Maryville University forward Max Wagener, as selected by the Head Coaches of ACHA Men's Division I. Wagener, the first Saints player to win the award in its 26‐year history, becomes the third player to win both Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season, joining Luc Reeve of Ohio University (2022-2023 season) and Brad Kobryn of Adrian College (2014‐2015 season).
Wagener is now the fifth player to win both Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in a career, joining the aforementioned Reeve and Kobryn, who won a second Player of the Year Award in 2016‐2017; Kale Dolinski, Rookie of the Year with Minot State University in 2010‐2011 and Player of the Year with Arizona State University in 2013‐2014; and Anthony Feyock of the University of Rhode Island, Rookie of the Year in 2003‐2004 and Player of the Year in 2005‐2006.
Wagener, a 5‐foot, 10‐inch, 180‐pound freshman from St. Louis, Mo., was the leading scorer for the Saints. In 26 regular season games, Wagener had 17 goals and 21 assists for 38 points. He led the Saints with five game-winning goals and nine power-play assists, playing a pivotal role in helping the Saints earn a berth to their fifth consecutive ACHA Men's Division I National Championships.
At the ACHA Men's Division I National Championships, Wagener dished out three assists in three games as the Saints earned a seventh-place finish. After a two-assist performance in a 4-1 win over No. 23-seeded Northwood University, Wagener assisted on the game-winning goal in double overtime against No. 7-seeded Niagara University. The Saints then fell to the eventual National Champions and No. 2-seeded University of Nevada-Las Vegas, 3-2 in overtime, in the quarterfinals.
At the end of the season, voting by the head coaches for the Independent Conference awards—which includes No. 4 Liberty University, No. 5 Ohio University, No. 8 Drury University, No. 9 Niagara University, the University of Alabama, and the University of Oregon—named Wagener Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, 1st Team All-Independent, and 1st Team All-Rookie.
Wagener was selected to compete with the United States Men's National University Team at the 2025 Winter World University Games in Torino, Italy. In the four-game round robin, the United States team won all four of its games and secured the top seed for the playoff round.
Wagener scored one goal each against Poland, Japan, and Slovakia before netting both goals in the shootout to secure the win over Slovakia. In the final round robin game against Ukraine, he dished out two assists, then followed that up with a goal and an assist in the quarterfinal game against Korea and an assist in the Bronze Medal game against Ukraine. In seven tournament games, Wagener scored four goals and four assists.
