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Drew Johnson The Hockey Writers

Published on Tuesday, October 24, 2017

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NCAA Hockey Rankings: Quinnipiac Up, BC Way Down

College hockey is exciting, especially when some of the nation’s best teams move up and down the rankings.

This week, Quinnipiac University propelled themselves over Northeastern University to a 3-1-1 record. Meanwhile, St. Cloud State University remained undefeated after reverting Boston College to a record of 1-3-1.

The University of Denver remains the No. 1 ranked team in the country with a 2-0-2 record after milking a win and a tie out of Lake Superior.

Quinnipiac Leapfrogs Northeastern

The Quinnipiac Bobcats swept the Northeastern Huskies this weekend, sending the two teams in polar directions, according to U.S. College Hockey Online’s Division 1 Men’s Poll.

The Bobcats made the biggest leap of the week, propelling themselves from No. 18 to No. 13 while simultaneously sending the Huskies from No. 16 down to No. 20.

Two freshmen duked it out in goal on Friday night as Detroit Red Wings prospect, Keith Petruzzelli, made 37 saves en route to a 6-4 win over Northeastern’s Cayden Primeau, a prospect of the Montreal Canadiens.

Keith Petruzzelli took home a win for Quinnipiac on Friday (courtesy United States Hockey League)

Alex Whelan opened up the scoring on Friday night for the Bobcats before going on to notch his fourth goal of the season in overtime on Saturday, successfully routing the Huskies out of their own building. His four goals and one assist in five games thus far have fans in Hamden, Connecticut excited after just six goals and four assists during his freshman year.

Current freshman, Odeen Tufto, notched a goal and two assists against Northeastern this weekend, propelling himself to three goals and four assists in five games. He sits atop Quinnipiac’s leaders in points with seven and is followed by senior Tanner MacMaster, who has six points and managed a goal and two assists as well this weekend.

Quinnipiac head coach Ryan Pecknold was pleased to see his team’s dominant performance carry into Saturday night’s matchup. Northeastern junior Ryan Ruck fell by a score of 3-2 in overtime, facing 46 Bobcats shots compared to the 26 that Bobcats sophomore Andrew Shortridge saw.

Rand Pecknold

Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold has a lot to be happy about this weekend (Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports)

Though they got the short end of the stick, the Huskies’ weekend featured solid individual performances. Senior Dylan Sikura, a sixth-round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks, accumulated three goals and three assists against the Bobcats. Sophomore defenseman Jeremy Davies, who was drafted in the seventh round by the New Jersey Devils in 2016, assisted all three of Sikura’s goals against Quinnipiac plus one other this weekend.

Despite their efforts, Northeastern dropped the ball and allowed Quinnipiac to steal the college hockey spotlight this week.

Boston College Rocked by St. Cloud State

The now No. 2 ranked St. Cloud State Huskies crept up one ranking after taking two games against the formerly ranked No. 13 Boston College Eagles who have now plummeted to No. 19.

Eagles sophomore Ryan Edquist recorded 42 saves in a 5-2 loss on Friday to Huskies’ junior goaltender Jeff Smith who was only forced to make 18 saves.

The Montreal Canadien’s first-round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, SCSU sophomore Ryan Poehling registered a goal and three assists against the Eagles this weekend. Ryan’s brothers, Nick and Jack Poehling, also made an appearance on the scoresheet; Jack netted two goals while Nick managed just one.

Ryan Poehling

Ryan Poehling ranks second in points on St. Cloud State (Photo courtesy Maddie Macfarlane)

Fans of SCSU are no strangers to that, however. The three brothers led the Huskies over the University of Alaska Fairbanks the weekend before.

The Eagles remained quiet for most of the weekend. Though freshman Logan Hutsko and junior Christopher Brown opened up the scoring on Friday, the Huskies went on to score eight unanswered goals before BC junior JD Dudek scored the two-game series’ closing goal in the third period of Saturday’s game.

SCSU freshman goaltender David Hrenak made 36 stops en route to a 3-1 win over the Eagles on Saturday. Sophomore Joseph Woll got the start for BC, registering 21 saves.

Boston College sophomore Joseph Woll was dealt a loss this weekend – Courtesy of Steven Ellis (Eurohockey.com)

Junior defenseman Casey Fitzgerald, a 2016 third round pick of the Buffalo Sabres, assisted the Hutsko power-play goal on Friday.

Also managing just one assist this weekend was sophomore Graham McPhee who was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers the very same year. Both players lead the Eagles in points with two goals and two assists through five games.

Denver Remains No. 1

The Denver Pioneers remained on top of the college hockey world this week with a tie and a win over the Lake Superior Lakers. This followed a weekend that yielded the same results against Notre Dame.

Sophomore Henrik Borgstrom, a Florida Panthers’ first-round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, recorded a goal and two assists against Lake Superior this weekend, though that might not come as a surprise. He finds himself leading the Pioneers in points with three goals and two assists in just three games.

Henrik Borgstrom led Denver over Lake Superior (Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports)

Denver recorded a whopping 66 shots against Lake Superior goaltender junior Nick Kissoff in Friday’s 3-3 tie. The Pioneers managed 54 shots against the Lakers on Saturday while freshman Dayton Rasmussen took home his first win of the season by a score of 5-1.


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