League Earns Respect of Voters
ALBANY, NY – The national voters once again recognize five ECAC Hockey teams in the two men’s national polls – USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll and USCHO.com - released Monday, January 31. Yale slips into the ranked No. 2/3; Rensselaer jumps to the No. 9/9 spot; Union pops-up to the No. 11/11 slot; Dartmouth steps into the No. 17 spot; and Princeton remains in the No. 19 position.
Playing on the road in a pair of sold-out venues against nationally-ranked league opponents Yale found itself coming up on the short end. The Bulldogs were edged 3-2, by then No. 12/13 Union at Messa Rink Friday and bettered by Rensselaer, 5-2 at Houston Field House Saturday. The two setbacks dropped the Bulldogs from No. 1 in both polls. Yale sits in the No. 2 spot in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll earning three first-place votes and 448 points. The Bulldogs drop to the third spot in the USCHO.com poll garnering two first-place votes and 881 points. Yale is now 17-4-0 overall and 11-3-0 in conference action, holding one point lead. The Bulldogs are the only team in the nation which is averaging over four games per game (4.52). Yale will host Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend at The Whale.
Now riding a five-game winning streak after blanking Brown, 3-0 Friday and upending No. 1 Yale, 5-2 at the 34th Annual Big Red Freakout!, Rensselaer once again moves up in both national polls. The Engineers are ranked No. 8 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll (259 points) and No. 9 in the USCHO.com poll (594). The Engineers overall record is now 17-6-3 and 12-1-0 at Houston Field House. Rensselaer will travel to Quinnipiac Friday and Princeton Saturday in a pair of conference games.
Coming off a weekend sweep of No. 1 Yale and Brown, the Union men's ice hockey team earned a No. 11 ranking in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls released Monday. The Dutchmen earned 507 points in the USCHO.com poll and 189 points in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll, both season highs. The No. 11 ranking in the USCHO.com poll marks the highest ranking that Union has earned in the poll since it was ranked No. 11 in the Nov. 27, 2000 poll. On Friday Union’s 3-2 win against No. 1 Yale on Friday night at Messa Rink marked the first time in the Division I era that the Dutchmen have defeated an opponent ranked No. 1 in the nation. On Saturday night, Union picked up its 18th win of the season with a 4-2 win against Brown. The Dutchmen will take to the road nationally-ranked Princeton and Quinnipiac in league action this weekend.
Picking up three points with a 1-0-1 mark last weekend Dartmouth stepped up from the No. 18 spot to the No. 17 slot in the USCHO.com poll earning 177 votes. The Big Green tied visiting Cornell, 2-2 Friday and handled Colgate, 7-3, Saturday, scoring their highest goal output of the season. Dartmouth sits tied for fourth in the conference standings with a mark of 8-4-2 league mark and 18 points. The Big Green will venture to Brown and Yale this weekend for two league showdowns.
Coming off a 16-day break, Princeton did not need much time to skate off the rust, as the Tigers won three of three games last week. The Tigers hold onto the No. 19 position in the USCHO.com earning 157 points. Six Tigers had multiple points in a 7-1 win over Sacred Heart Tuesday and 13 skaters tallied at least a point. The Tigers have only lost once in their last 11 games (9-1-1) and are now in the third-place in the ECAC Hockey standings with 19 points. Princeton will have a true weekend test as Union and RPI come calling.
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.
