National Polls Spotlight Four League Teams

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Four ECAC Hockey teams - Union, Colgate, Cornell, and Yale - are featured in the latest Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Polls, released Monday, December 12.

Colgate, 11-4-2, continues to grab the attention of voters in both national polls. The Raiders moved into the No. 10 spot in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll (190 points) and held onto the No. 12 position in the USCHO.com poll earning  495 points. After skating to a 1-1 overtime ties last Saturday with No. 5/5 Merrimack the Raiders are riding a six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1), which is their longest since 2009-10. The Raiders will enjoy a 20-day break for finals and the holidays and will be back at Starr Rink on Dec. 30 as Colgate hosts Canisius.



Union, (8-3-5) scored three unanswered goals in the second and third periods to take control of a game that was tied a 2-2 late in the second period to down rival Rensselaer at Festivus Faceoff in Lake Placid last Saturday. Despite the victory, Union fell one spot to the No. 11 slot in the USCHO.com (510 points) poll and three positions to No. 12 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll (163 points). The Dutchmen will take on No. 5/5 Merrimack Saturday at 4 p.m. at Lawler Arena in North Andover, MA.

Cornell, who were idle last week, jumped three spots to the No. 13 position in the USCHO.com poll earning 347 points and cracked the top 15 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll (No. 15) earning 56 points. The Big Red are riding a five game consecutive shutout streak at Lynah Rink - a program record. They have a balanced attack scoring 3.25 goals per game, while on giving up 1.38 which has led them into first-place in the ECAC Hockey standings. The Big Red will be on break until Dec. 29 when it tangles with Massachusetts in the Florida College Classic in Estero, FL.

Yale dropped to the No. 19 spot earning 69 points in the USCHO.com poll after falling on the road to UMass, 3-1 last Tuesday, December 7. It was Keith Allain's first game coaching at the Mullins Center, which has an ice surface 10 feet wider than Ingalls Rink (85 feet). The Bulldogs, 6-5-1, will next drop the puck Wednesday, December 28 as the Russian Red Stars visit Ingalls Rink for an exhibition game.
 
Clarkson, Harvard, and Quinnipiac also earned votes in the USCHO.com 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 USCHO.com 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 hockey.

The 17th 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.