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NCAA Hockey Rankings: St. Cloud & North Dakota up, Denver Falls
There were some big shake-ups in the college hockey world, especially when you look at where teams were ranked last week.
This week, the St. Cloud State Huskies were deemed the No. 1 team in college hockey, according to US College Hockey Online’s NCAA Men’s Division I Rankings. The North Dakota Hawks were able to rise up to No. 2, while the Denver Pioneers fell to No. 3 following a sweep at the hands of the Western Michigan Broncos. Meanwhile, the Quinnipiac Bobcats fell to Cornell Big Red and the Colgate Raiders, marking the biggest fall of the week.
NCAA Hockey Rankings:
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Last Poll |
| 1 | St. Cloud State | 7-0-0 | 1020 | 2 (+2) |
| 2 | North Dakota | 6-2-2 | 930 | 4 (+2) |
| 3 | Denver | 4-2-2 | 888 | 1 (-2) |
| 4 | Minnesota | 7-3-0 | 866 | 5 (+1) |
| 5 | Harvard | 2-1-0 | 821 | 3 (-2) |
| 6 | Notre Dame | 6-3-1 | 676 | 10 (+4) |
| 7 | Wisconsin | 6-4-1 | 619 | 7 (NC) |
| 8 | Providence | 5-3-0 | 615 | 6 (-2) |
| 9 | New Hampshire | 6-1-1 | 561 | 13 (+4) |
| 10 | Minnesota State | 6-3-0 | 559 | 9 (-1) |
| 11 | Clarkson | 6-3-1 | 552 | 13 (+2) |
| 12 | Minnesota Duluth | 4-4-2 | 448 | 8 (-4) |
| 13 | Northeastern | 5-2-1 | 441 | 15 (+2) |
| 14 | Cornell | 5-1-1 | 429 | 18 (+4) |
| 15 | Boston University | 4-5-1 | 429 | 12 (-3) |
| 16 | Quinnipiac | 3-3-1 | 219 | 11 (-5) |
| 17 | Ohio State | 5-3-2 | 159 | 16 (-1) |
| 18 | Western Michigan | 5-3-1 | 113 | NR |
| 19 | Penn State | 5-5-0 | 82 | 17 (-2) |
| 20 | Northern Michigan | 5-3-0 | 61 | NR |
No. 1 St. Cloud State, No. 2 North Dakota
St. Cloud State took two games against the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs by scores of 5-3 and 5-0, making them the No. 1 team in the country with an undefeated 7-0-0 record.
Huskies’ star forward and Montreal Canadiens prospect Ryan Poehling recorded a goal and an assist against the Bulldogs in Friday night’s matchup. He is currently ranked second among St. Cloud State skaters in points with three goals and seven assists in seven games.
Ryan Poehling recorded two points against Minnesota Duluth this weekend (Courtesy St. Cloud State)
Junior Jacob Benson notched two goals and two assists over the weekend while freshman goaltender David Hrenak recorded his first NCAA shutout in his third win of the season. He rests at a 1.65 goal against average (GAA) and a .946 save percentage (SV%).
North Dakota took on the Wisconsin Badgers this weekend, winning the first game 3-2 before tying the second one 2-2. Wisconsin’s rank of No. 7 makes them the only team to not see movement in the top-20 this week, while the Hawks leaped from No. 4 to No. 2 in the rankings.
Defenseman Christian Wolanin continued a season-long streak by recording an assist against the Badgers on Saturday night: the junior has registered at least one point against every opponent he has faced so far this season.
Senior forward Ryan Poganski recorded a goal against Wisconsin on Friday night, only his second of the season. The St. Louis Blues fourth-round pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft has registered a maximum of 25 points in a season through his college career. His NCAA career plus-minus rating is plus-29, however.
U’s Austin Poganski. (Photo: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports)
Freshman goaltender Peter Thome took the crease for the Hawks this weekend, collecting his first win and tie at the college level. He made 58 stops on 62 Wisconsin shots resulting in a 1.92 GAA and a .935 SV%.
North Dakota squashed the six-game point streak of Badgers’ top point producer Trent Frederic, a Boston Bruins first-round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Wisconsin senior goaltender, Kyle Hayton, took home the loss and tie, saving 59 of 64 North Dakota shots.
NCHC: Western Michigan Rocks Denver
Despite collecting a hat trick, Henrik Borgstrom and his Denver team fell 6-5 to Western Michigan on Friday night. The Broncos went on to win Saturday’s matchup by a score of 7-4, propelling them into the Top 20.
Henrik Borgstrom tallied four goals, including a hat-trick, against Western Michigan this weekend (Image courtesy of University of Denver)
Troy Terry, who leads Denver in points this season, registered six points against Western Michigan this weekend. Five of those points were helpers, slating him at five goals and 11 assists in only eight games this year.
Pioneer goaltenders Tanner Jaillet and Dayton Rasmussen split the losses. Rasmussen faced 37 shots, saving 31, while Jaillet managed 28 saves on 34 shots.
Wade Allison was considered a sleeper in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, but the Philadelphia Flyers’ second-round pick is looking good right now. The Broncos’ sophomore forward managed a hat trick in Saturday night’s game en route to a four-goal one-assist weekend against the Pioneers. The performance brought him up to six goals and eight assists – that’s 14 points in just nine games.
Western Michigan Broncos sophomore Wade Allison (GS Photo/WMU Athletics)
Allison’s fellow sophomore, Hugh McGing, recorded two goals and three assists against Denver. He is on a roll, scoring in three consecutive games.
ECAC: Quinnipiac Down, Cornell Up
Quinnipiac University hosted its alumni weekend, featuring annual matchups with ECAC opponents. This year, Colgate and Cornell marched into town, each stealing a win from the formerly-ranked No. 11 team.
It is the first time since 2014 that the Bobcats lost back-to-back games at home to ECAC opponents, and guess who handed them the losses that weekend?:
This is the first time since the Feb '14 that @QU_MIH has lost back to back ECAC home games. Cornell & Colgate did it then & now #Quinnipiac
— QUHockeyBlog (@QHockeyBlog) November 5, 2017
Quinnipiac’s top three scorers, Odeen Tufto, Tanner MacMaster, and Alex Whelan, were kept silent through the weekend. Meanwhile, sophomore starting goaltender Andrew Shortridge received both losses, giving up six goals on 48 shots.
Cornell Big Red thwarted the Bobcats on Friday night by a score of 2-1. Morgan Barron scored the eventual game-winning goal on the power play. He went on to register an assist against Princeton on Saturday, winning the matchup 5-4. Cornell was propelled to No. 14 overall.
Colgate senior Mike Panowyk registered two goals against Quinnipiac on Saturday night en route to a 4-1 stampede over the Bobcats. Goaltender Colton Point made 33 saves on the night, giving up one goal to sophomore defenseman Karlis Cukste. Point, a Dallas Stars prospect, is now 4-0-4 on the season with a 1.08 GAA and a .965 SV%.
Colgate Raiders goaltender Colton Point has yet to lose a game this season (Colgate Athletics)
Quinnipiac will need to batten down the hatches and find the source of the leaks going forward. Colgate and Cornell were beatable opponents, and the Bobcats can’t afford to let winnable games pass them by if they want to remain a top-20 team in the nation.
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