Yale is Nation’s New No. 1
ALBANY, NY – Yale, Union, and Rensselaer have been selected to a spot in both men’s national polls released Monday, December 6, 2010. Yale jumps moved to the No. 1/1 position, Union now sits in the No. 13/13 spot, Rensselaer jumps to the No. 15/15 position, and Dartmouth makes its debut in the No. 19 position.
For the first time since March 24, 2003 an ECAC Hockey team sits atop the national polls as Yale was voted to the No. 1 position in both the USCHO.com poll Yale has earning 973 points and 34 first place votes and 498 points and 24 first place votes in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll. With two wins over nationally-ranked Rensselaer (4-2) and Union (5-0) Yale is now a perfect 7-0-0 at Ingalls Rink this season. The Bulldogs, winners of five straight games, remains the nation’s top scoring offense netting 5.09 goals per game and scoring margin mark of 2.82. Yale has been equally as strong on the defense end only surrendering 2.27 goals per contest, which ranks ninth in the nation. Yale will host Hockey East foe Vermont Wednesday at 7 p.m. and look to avenge a 1-0 loss at Burlington last season.
Coming off nearly a three-week break, Union posted a 1-1 mark in league play on the road last weekend. The Dutchmen handled Brown, 4-3 Friday, before losing the showdown at Ingalls, 5-0 to top-ranked Yale. As a result the Dutchmen remained in the No. 13 position in the USCHO.com poll (412 points), as well as No. 13 spot in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll (114 points). This marks the 23th consecutive week that Union is nationally ranked, extending its school record. The Dutchmen own the nation’s best power-play unit with a success rate of 32.3%. Union will return home to Messa Rink to face American International College Wednesday evening and then welcome Army Friday night in non-conference tilts.
RPI moves up one spot in the USCHO.com poll (231 points) from No. 16 to No. 15 and hold onto the No. 15 position in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll at No. 15 (22 points). The Engineers showcase one best scoring defenses in the nation (2.08 G/GM) having only given up 27 goals in 13 overall games. The Engineers will welcome No. 7/7 Boston University to Houston Field House Sunday afternoon in non-league contest featured on the NHL Network.
After an idle week Dartmouth makes its debut in the No. 19 spot in the USCHO.com with 98 votes. The Big Green will be back on the ice, Sunday afternoon, Dec. 12, hosting Vermont at 4 p.m. at Thompson Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU. After that game the team will be off until Dec. 30 and 31, hosting the Ledyard National Bank Classic.
Clarkson and Princeton each received votes in the USCHO.com national poll this week well.
Click here to access complete USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll
Click here to access complete USCHO.com Poll
About the Polls:
The 16th annual USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll is conducted each week in conjunction with the American Hockey Coaches Association. The poll includes input from coaches and journalists representing each of the five NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences, as well as composite votes from officers of the AHCA and USA Hockey Magazine, the most widely distributed hockey magazine in the world.
The USCHO.com/CBS College Sports XXL Poll consists of 50 voters, including 28 coaches from the Division I conferences and 22 beat writers and sports professionals from across the country. The poll, published weekly by the Associated Press, is a production of USCHO.com, which provides in-depth coverage of college sports, including hockey, lacrosse, soccer and others.
