Things tightened up quite a bit in this week’s USCHO.com Division III Women’s Poll, although in the end, Elmira still captured the No. 1 spot as it has all season long.
Elmira is 1-2-1 in its last four games, although two of those games — both losses — were to a Division I team, Wayne State. The other mark on its record came in a 2-2 tie against No. 2 Bowdoin in the Utica Women’s Hockey Tournament on Saturday. Elmira rebounded in a 5-1 win over Colby Sunday afternoon.
With the tie and a 5-0 win over host Utica, Bowdoin took over the second spot, and garnered two first-place votes. The Polar Bears moved past Manhattanville, which won two games over New England College by a combined score of 16-1.
The other first place vote went to Middlebury, which improved to 4-0-0 with two dominating wins, 7-0 over Wesleyan and 8-0 over Trinity. The first trial of the young season comes this weekend for the Panthers, as they host No. 7 Plattsburgh and No. 1 Elmira. No. 9 Williams will also play both teams, as some of the best in the east go head to head.
The USCHO.com Poll is compiled by U.S. College Hockey Online, and consists of 12 voters, all coaches of Division III programs.
