Losses to unranked teams over the past week hurt several top 15 teams in the latest USCHO.com Division I men’s hockey poll. All six teams that suffered defeats fell in the rankings, which were released yesterday.
Cornell remained at the No. 2 spot after a pair of wins against ECAC opponents Rensselaer and Union. The Red received eight first-place votes, two fewer than last week.
Meanwhile, Colorado College is at the top of the list again after an off week in which the Tigers only played an exhibition game against the U.S. Under-18 team. Colorado College won the exhibition, 5-2, as it geared up for its last four games in the regular season, all against ranked opponents.
With a pair of wins in a home-and-home against Northeastern, Boston College moved up to third in the poll. New Hampshire held on to the fourth spot despite a tie at Massachusetts-Lowell.
Maine tumbled from third to fifth, as the Black Bears split a road series with Massachusetts. Other schools in the top 10 that took hits after losses were No. 7 Minnesota, which split on the road at Minnesota-Duluth, and North Dakota, which dropped to ninth after losing two games to No. 10 MSU-Mankato.
Both Ferris State and Michigan rose two spots this week to sixth and eighth, respectively, after winning both their games.
Boston University, which was back on the winning track after an early-season slump, suffered another setback as it took a loss and a tie in a home-and-home against No. 15 Providence. The Terriers dropped from ninth to 11th with the winless weekend.
Denver moved up a spot to No. 12 after a pair of home wins over Michigan Tech, while Harvard, the only other ECAC team in the top 15, climbed two places to 13th. The Crimson picked up two conference wins on the road against Dartmouth and Vermont this weekend.
Ohio State was the biggest mover of the week, falling three rungs down the ladder to No. 14 after losing twice at home to Alaska-Fairbanks.
Providence was a new face in the rankings this week, taking over the last spot after its win and tie against B.U. The Friars replaced St. Cloud State on the poll. St. Cloud State could only manage a tie out of a two-game series at Wisconsin.
Yale was the only other ECAC team beside Cornell and Harvard to make its way onto ballots, as the Bulldogs earned 13 votes.
The coming week is highlighted by eight matchups between ranked teams. The marquee matchup will be a home-and-home between Boston College and New Hampshire, while elsewhere in Hockey East, Boston University and Maine will also play a pair of games in Orono, Maine. In the WCHA, MSU-Mankato visits Colorado College for two games, and Minnesota hosts Denver twice.
The Red will close out its regular season on the road at Princeton and Yale. Cornell is 5-2 against currently ranked teams this season.
Archived article by Sun Staff