Dutchmen earn highest ever ranking

by Ryan Fay

Union rose one spot to second in the USCHO.com top-20 poll Monday, establishing the program's highest ever ranking.

The ECAC Hockey regular-season champion Dutchmen (26-6-4) collected 14-of-50 first-place votes and earned 945 points. Over the weekend, they swept their best-of-three ECACH quarterfinal series against 10th-seeded Dartmouth by scores of 3-0 and 4-2. Union had been ranked third in the poll for the past five weeks.

Union moved past Boston College (26-7-4), which fell from second to third. The Eagles, the Hockey East regular-season champions, were ousted from their league tournament after losing a best-of-three quarterfinal series against eighth-seeded Notre Dame. The Eagles racked up 899 points in the poll.

Big Ten powerhouse Minnesota (25-5-6) remained at the top of the poll. The Gophers, who split a weekend series with Michigan, got 986 points and the other 36 first-place votes.

Union also moved up one spot to second in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine top-15 poll. The Dutchmen received seven-of-34 first place votes and 451 points. Boston College dropped one spot to third and recorded 439 points. Minnesota stayed first after rounding up 503 points and the remaining 27 first-place votes.

The Dutchmen return to action on Friday, when they take on fourth-seeded Cornell in an ECACH semifinal game at 4 p.m. at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid.

USCHO.com poll
Team (First Place Votes) Record Points Last Poll
1 Minnesota (36) 25- 5-6 986 1
2 Union (14) 26- 6-4 945 3
3 Boston College 26- 7-4 899 2
4 Ferris State 27- 9-3 826 6
5 Quinnipiac 24- 8-6 774 6
6 Wisconsin 22-10-2 750 5
7 Massachusetts-Lowell 23-10-4 676 8
8 St. Cloud State 21-10-5 624 4
9 Providence 21- 9-6 611 9
10 Notre Dame 23-13-2 606 11
11 North Dakota 22-12-3 498 10
12 Michigan 18-12-4 419 13
13 Cornell 17- 9-5 408 12
14 Colgate 19-12-5 338 17
15 Minnesota State 24-13-1 320 18
16 Vermont 20-14-3 247 15
17 Northeastern 19-14-4 177 14
18 New Hampshire 21-17-1 141 NR
19 Western Michigan 19-14-5 109 NR
20 Yale 17-11-5 93 16
Others receiving votes: Denver 19, Mercyhurst 13, Maine 5, Minnesota-Duluth 5, Ohio State 5, Clarkson 2, Miami 2, Bowling Green 1.

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll
(First-place votes in parentheses)
Rank School Last Week’s Ranking
1. Minnesota, 503 (27) 1
2. Union, 451 (7) 3
3. Boston College, 439 2
4. Ferris State, 404 6
5. Quinnipiac, 369 7
6. Wisconsin, 331 5
7. UMass Lowell, 288 8
8. Notre Dame, 260 11
9. Providence, 246 10
10. St. Cloud State, 221 4
11. North Dakota, 165 9
12. Michigan, 140 13
13. Cornell, 117 12
14. Colgate, 59 RV
15. Minnesota State, 56 RV
Others receiving votes: Northeastern, 12; Vermont, 9; Yale, 6; New Hampshire, 3; Western Michigan, 1.

PairWise Rankings

Union is tied for third with Ferris State in the PairWise Rankings. As of now, the Dutchmen would likely be the top seed in the NCAA Tournament East Regional in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The PairWise Ranking is a system which attempts to mimic the method used by the NCAA Selection Committee to determine participants for the NCAA Division I men’s hockey tournament.

To see the complete PairWise rankings, click here.

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