Another week, another No. 2 ranking for Lakers

December 12, 2011

In a week full of movement among the top 15, the Oswego State men’s ice hockey team continued its long stay as the No. 2 team in Division III, according to the USCHO.com Men’s Ice Hockey Poll. The Lakers played just one game over the weekend, defeating Hobart College, 2-1, in a non-conference game at the Campus Center Ice Arena. Junior defenseman Jesse McConney netted the game-winning goal with 6:10 remaining in the third period to give the Lakers a hard-fought victory to close out the first half of the regular season schedule. Heading into the holiday break, Oswego State sits atop the SUNYAC standings at 6-0-2 and have compiled a 9-1-2 overall record. The Lakers received one first place vote and garnered 276 points in this week’s poll.

Norwich University remains as the top-ranked team in Division III, receiving a total of 299 points and 19 of 20 first place votes. The Cadets are the only team in the top 15 who have yet to drop a game this season. Norwich has a record of 8-0-1. The lone tie came on Friday night against SUNY Plattsburgh. The Cadets fought from two goals behind after the second period to muster a tie and stay atop the rankings. Castleton moved back to the No. 3 spot, climbing one spot despite not playing over the weekend. Wisconsin-River Falls dropped one spot after splitting a weekend series on the road against Wisconsin-Eau Clair. Plattsburgh rounds out the top five after tying the top-ranked team on the road on Friday night.

St. Norbert dropped a spot to No. 6, splitting a weekend series with St. Scholastica at home. Adrian moved up two spots to No. 7 while being idle over the weekend. Amherst made the biggest splash in this week’s poll, jumping up six spots to No. 8. The Jeffs defeated Williams College on Friday before beating Middlebury in overtime on Saturday. Utica moved up one spot to No. 9, edging out SUNY Potsdam before routing Salve Regina, 12-0. Elmira College rounds out the top 10, falling four spots after losing a pair of games to SUNYAC opponents over the weekend. Brockport got the best of the Soaring Eagles in overtime on Friday, before SUNY Geneseo beat Elmira on Saturday.

Milwaukee School of Engineering served as the only team to remain in the same position as last week, sitting at No. 11. Sharing the 11th position in the poll is Neumann University, who moved up four spots. The Knights swept a two-game series with Morrisville State, outscoring the Mustangs 16-4. Williams College dropped a spot to No. 13, as did Wisconsin-Superior, dropping to No. 14. The team that had the worst week was Middlebury, who dropped seven spots to No. 15. Middlebury was shut out by Hamilton on Friday before losing in overtime to Amherst on Saturday.

Other teams receiving votes were: St. Scholastica, Curry, St. Thomas, Wisconsin-Eau Clair and New England College.

USCHO.com Men’s Poll