Four Teams Sit in National Polls
ALBANY, NY – Four ECAC Hockey teams once again are featured in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll and the USCHO.com Poll released Monday, March 07. Yale sits in the No. 3/3 in each poll; Union continues to be in the No. 4/4 in each poll; Dartmouth is seated in the No. 18 position; and Rensselaer comes in at the No. 20 spot.
After earning a second-place finish in the regular-season, Yale earned a weekend bye in the first-round of league tournament play. The Bulldogs are seated in the No. 3 position in both national polls this week. Yale earned 438 points in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll and 892 points and one first-place vote in the USCHO.com Poll. The Bulldogs now own an overall record of 23-5-1 on the season good enough for a winning percentage of .810, tops in the nation. Yale continues to showcase one of the nation’s top scoring offenses, netting 4.28 goals per game, which also leads the nation. Riding a current five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1), Yale will welcome St. Lawrence to Ingalls Rink for a best-of-three series in the quarterfinal round in the ECAC Men’s Hockey Championship this weekend.
After claiming its first Cleary Cup with a 17-3-2 conference record, Union continues to climb in both national polls. The Dutchmen, who are riding a nation’s best 10-game winning streak, are seated in the No. 4 spot in both national polls. Union earned 842 points in the USCHO.com poll and 394 points in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll, both season highs. The No. 4 ranking in both polls is the highest ranking that Union has earned since moving up to Division I before the 1991-92 season. The Dutchmen showcase the nation’s best defense only surrendering 2.03 goals per game overall. Union’s special teams have been a key to its success this year scoring on 31% of its power-play opportunities, best in the nation. The Dutchmen, who have been solid at home this season (15-1-2), will host Colgate in the tournament’s quarterfinals beginning this Friday at 7 p.m. at Messa Rink.
Dartmouth (16-10-3, overall) moved up two spots to the No. 18 in the USCHO.com poll this week (165 points). The Big Green earned the No. 3 seed in the ECAC Men’s Hockey Championship Tournament. Junior netminder James Mello led the conference with a .938 save percentage for Dartmouth. The Big Green will welcome Harvard to Hanover this weekend for the best-of-three series. Dartmouth handled Harvard this season in its two matchups, cruising by the Crimson 8-2 and 5-2 in regular-season action.
After dropping its first-round series to visiting Colgate (2-1), Rensselaer fell to the No. 20 position in the USCHO.com this week. The Engineers earned 98 points in the USCHO.com poll and slipped out of the top-15 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll (3 points). The Engineers overall record is now 20-12-5 and will have to wait a few weekends to see if they are awarded a spot in the NCAA tournament.
Cornell also received votes in the USCHO.com national poll this week.
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.
