National Voters Select Four League Teams
ALBANY, NY – The national voters in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll and the USCHO.com Poll released Monday, February 14 have selected four ECAC Hockey teams. Yale is positioned No. 3/3 in each poll; Union continues its climb coming in at No. 7/7 in each poll; Rensselaer is recognized in the No. 14/14 slot; and Dartmouth is ranked in the No. 16 spot.
Yale is once again the highest ECAC Hockey team in the national polls. The Bulldogs are coming off a weekend split in league action last weekend where they were edged at St. Lawrence, 3-2 Friday and doubled up Clarkson, 6-3 Saturday. As a result Yale fell one spot in each national poll. The Bulldogs earned 435 points and a No. 3 ranking in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll and No. 3 position and 889 points in the USCHO.com Poll. Yale is now in second-place in the ECAC Hockey standings one point behind Union. The Bulldogs now own an overall record of 20-5-0 on the season good enough for a winning percentage of .800, tops in the nation. Yale remains the only team in the nation which is averaging over four games per game (4.32) and boasts the nation’s largest scoring margin at 2.12. The Bulldogs will be on the road this weekend taking on Quinnipiac and Princeton in league play.
Currently riding a seven-game win streak Union continues to climb up the national polls. The Dutchmen are now ranked in the No. 7/7 spot in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Polls. The Dutchmen earned 714 points in the USCHO.com poll and 334 points in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll, both season highs. This marks the 31st consecutive week the Dutchmen have been ranked in the USCHO.com poll, extending a school record. Union has been ranked for 16 consecutive weeks in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll. Union (22-7-3) has the most wins of any team in the nation after its third straight weekend sweep in ECAC Hockey play. Union sports a balanced attack this season netting 3.72 goals per game on offense (fourth in nation) and only allowing 2.06 goals per game (second in the nation).
Rensselaer dropped two one goal overtime games last weekend at Houston Field House. RPI dropped 2-1 overtime contest to Colgate Friday and a 3-2 game to Cornell. As a result Rensselaer fell from the No. 8 spot to the No. 14 position in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll (101 points) and slide down to the No. 14 position in the USCHO.com poll (387 points). The Engineers overall record is now 18-8-4 overall and 10-7-1 in conference play. Rensselaer will venture to the North Country this weekend to take on St. Lawrence Friday and Clarkson Saturday.
Having only lost two games in its last 11 contests Dartmouth moved up one spot to No. 16 in the USCHO.com poll this week (250 points). The Big Green posted two key league wins last weekend by stopping Quinnipiac, 3-1 and skating past Princeton, 4-1. Dartmouth is now seated in the No. 3 spot in the ECAC Hockey standings with a record of 11-5-2 and 24 points. The Big Green will take to the road this coming weekend visiting Colgate, Friday and Cornell Saturday.
Cornell and Princeton each received votes in one of the national polls 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.
