Another week of hockey, and another week that saw Quinnipiac go undefeated. If this seems like the same old song and dance it is, as the Bobcats are undefeated in their last 16 contests and their last loss was to a team they probably shouldn’t have lost to, AIC, over three months ago. As for the other teams they will continue to chase the Bobcats in these rankings. QU holds a ten point advantage on Princeton at the top of the league standings and sits in a virtual tie at the top of the Pairwise with UNH and Boston College. Yale and Dartmouth sit in ninth and 11th respectively in those rankings, while  Colgate sits on the bubble in position 16.

1. Quinnipiac (17-3-3, 11-0-1) – Last Week 1

At this point kudos to the Bobcats. Last weekend they continued the streak that has now carried them from November 6 until today by tying RPI and defeating Union. On Saturday against the Dutchmen, the Q entered the third period down 2-0. They would go on to score three unanswered goals to secure a win that was in doubt for much of the tilt. Led by a goaltender that is one of the best in the nation and the nation’s best defense Quinnipiac should be in this position to stay until the end of the year. (more…)

Friday 1/11

Brown @ Clarkson- Two teams who are struggling this year. Got to give it to Clarkson 3-2 at home.

Union @ Princeton- The Tigers are a hot team right now, but Union has loads of talent of its team. I really think Bennett starts turning things around this weekend. 2-1 Union.

RPI @ Quinnipiac- Looks like an easy call with this one. RPI is having a down year and really showed some fight last weekend, but the Bobcats have been on a roll as of late. 3-0 Quinnipiac

Yale @ St. Lawrence- A 3-3 tie with Boston College looks pretty good for Yale’s confidence right now. 2-1 Yale

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BOSTON — Harvard overcame a 5-2 third period deficit and scored with 48 seconds remaining in overtime to defeat Boston University, 6-5, at Agganis Arena on Wednesday night. The win halts a six-game winless streak for Harvard; most of which came during a tumultuous month that saw four players leave the university due to their role in an academic dishonesty scandal.

Conor Morrison picked up his first goal of the season on a breakaway to win the game for the Crimson. Goals from Marshall Everson, Luke Greiner and Colin Blackwell led the third-period surge for Harvard. BU held leads of 3-0 and 5-2, but the Terriers failed to hold or build on these leads.

The game marked the first meeting of the O’Regan brothers. Both BU freshman Danny (two goals and an assist) and Harvard sophomore Tommy (a goal and two assists) picked up three points on the night. The crosstown rivals may meet again this season. However, both will need to win their opening Beanpot games. Harvard takes on Boston College, while BU plays Northeastern on the first Monday in February.

What I Saw

• Boston University defensemen played their worst game of the season as a group. Not a single BU blue liner played well in his own zone on the night, leaving freshman goaltender Matt O’Connor in some tough spots. Lax play on breakouts or zone entries led to frequent turnovers and odd-man rushes for Harvard. Following the game, BU coach Jack Parker pointed to his defensemen as an especially sore spot in the game. Throughout the season, BU has come to rely on its defenders given their consistent play and contributions on both ends of the ice. Wednesday, the group looked disinterested at times, neglecting its responsibilities to join rushes and leaving Crimson forwards open below the circles as a result. (more…)

Last week Dartmouth was sitting pretty in these rankings after a win against UNH but have not won since and have lost three games in a row. Quinnipiac proved their ranking at the top with another four point weekend, with wins against Dartmouth and Harvard. Quinnipiac now sits nine points clear of their closest competition in the standings, while the next 11 teams are separated by just seven points. Without further ado we will see where all the teams rank.

1. Quinnipiac (16-3-2, 10-0-0) – Last Week 1

At this point there is no question who the top dog in ECAC is. Last weekend the Bobcats defeated Dartmouth 2-1 on Friday night, while pummeling Harvard 6-2 on Saturday. They are on a 14 game unbeaten streak and are unblemished in ECAC play. A nine point lead is monumental at this point of the season, but it seems as though nine points will be all they need. The question at this point is who will stop their hot streak. Along with being at the top of the ECAC standings, the Bobcats currently sit in second place in the ever important Pairwise Rankings (more…)

Durham, NH- RPI came off a loss last night against Boston University and struggled to find their stride in the early going as UNH would take an early 1-0 lead off the stick of Eric Knodel at ten minutes, 15 seconds of the period. RPI would find that stride later in the period as Curtis Leonard took a point shot and it ended up in the back of the net. The Wildcats and Engineers entered the first intermission tied at one apeice. In the second period, UNH dominated the scoring as they would take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission on goals by John Henrion and Justin Agosta

The third period would bring much of the same from the Wildcats, as Connor Hardowa would add a goal and Jeff Silengo would score an empty-net goal to make it a 5-1 game. Rensselaer would get a second goal from Curtis Leonard, but it would not be enough as UNH would escape with the 5-2 win. New Hampshire improves to 13-3-2 on the season, while Rensselaer falls to 6-9-4. (more…)

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Yale outshot Boston College 48-22 on Friday night, but the teams ended up with a 3-3 tie. The Bulldogs held a 16-7 shot advantage in the first, but it was the Eagles who took a 1-0 lead into the break after Bill Arnold buried a rebound in front. BC added to its lead 5:31 into the second when Brendan Silk led a rush down the left wing and knocked in his own rebound. Colin Dueck cut the lead in half just 17 seconds later when he fired a shot trough traffic that found its way past Parker Milner.

The Bulldogs (7-4-3) tied the game six minutes after that when Ryan Obuchowski collected a BC (12-3-2) turnover and beat Milner from the point for his first career goal. Just 1:13 later, Andrew Miller gave Yale a 3-2 lead with a snipe from the left circle. Steven Whitney netted the equalizer with 3:27 left in the second when his one-timer deflected off a Yale defender and past Jeff Malcolm. Milner made a career-high 45 saves in the tie.

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It is tough to judge teams right out of the break and this will be taken into account in these power rankings. The top two seem relatively clear after the results over the weekend, with Quinnipiac and Dartmouth getting the nod. The former swept Nebraska Omaha in a two game set at home and the latter defeated in-state rival UNH before falling to UMass the next night. Between those two and the next ten a gap has developed. The matchup of the week will be the top two meeting in conference action on Friday, as Dartmouth travels to the Q.

1. Quinnipiac (14-3-2, 8-0-0)- Before Break 1

There is no hotter team in the country than Quinnipiac right now. The Bobcats are on a 12 game unbeaten streak. They have won 11 of those 12 games and had no trouble disposing of WCHA foe Nebraska Omaha in a weekend two game set. On Friday, the Bobcats took a 5-4 decision and on Saturday they defeated Omaha 3-1. Friday will loom large and a win on Friday would all but put Quinnipiac in complete control of the ECAC standings, as they already have a seven point lead in the standings over Dartmouth. (more…)

Hanover, NH- The game was penalty filled, but in the end it turned out to be a thriller as UMass scored an early third period goal, off the stick of Branden Gracel, to take home the Ledyard Bank National Classic. UMass had a strong first period but left the period with nothing to show for it and trailing the Big Green 2-1. Connor Sheary opened the scoring at three minutes, four seconds into the first period giving UMass an early 1-0 lead. The lead was short-lived as Dartmouth would respond shorthanded at 9:50, a goal by Brett Patterson to tie the game at one apiece. The Big Green would pot another one 1:23 later to take the 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

The second period was penalty filled and UMass scored the only goal, a shorthanded marker from Eddie Olzcyzk, to send the game into the second intermission tied at two. 15 seconds into the third period Branden Gracel, the tournament MVP, scored the eventual game winner and UMass escaped with the 3-2 win. The Minutemen improve 7-9-2 on the season, while Dartmouth drops their first home game of season falling to 8-3-2. (more…)

Hanover, NH- It was a game that featured the second and third ranked teams in the Pairwise, but one team really stood out for all the wrong reasons and one for all the right reasons. Dartmouth struck first six minutes, five seconds into the first period as Nick Bligh found himself all alone in the high slot and fired it past UNH goaltender Casey Desmith. The Big Green would increase their lead to two as Ryan Bullock struck five minutes later to give Dartmouth the 2-0 lead after one stanza. Both of those goals were the first in their respective collegiate careers.

To begin the second period, UNH scored 46 seconds in to make it a game at 2-1, but Dartmouth would make it a 3-1 game off the stick of Tyler Sikura. The 3-1 score would hold until the end, where Dartmouth held on and added an empty netter to pull out the 4-1 victory over UNH in front of a sell out crowd of 4500 at Thompson Arena. UNH falls to 11-3-2 on the season, while Dartmouth improves to 8-2-2. (more…)

HAMDEN, Conn. – Two teams that pride themselves on defense ended up in a shootout Saturday, as Quinnipiac beat Nebraska-Omaha 5-4. Jordan Samuels-Thomas scored two goals for the Bobcats, including what proved to be the game-winner 3:47 into the third. Just three minutes after UNO’s Ryan Walters tied the game at 4-4, Matthew Peca led a 4-on-2 and found Samuels-Thomas in the high slot for the goal. Quinnipiac extended its unbeaten streak to 11 games with the win.

Samuels-Thomas and Peca also opened the scoring, as each scored within the game’s first four minutes to give the Bobcats (13-3-2) a 2-0 lead that they would hold until the end of the first. Matt White cut the lead in half early in the second before Ben Arnt restored Quinnipiac’s two-goal lead. The Mavericks (11-7-1) came back to tie the game at 3-3, though, as Johnnie Searfoss and Brian O’Rourke both found the back of the net. It looked like the game would go into the third deadlocked, but a UNO turnover behind the net allowed Kellen Jones to feed Kevin Bui in front to give the Bobcats a 4-3 lead with 1:06 left in the second.

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