Middlebury hangs onto the top spot in this week’s USCHO.com D-III poll, picking up two more first-place votes, for a total of 14. The Panthers start their season this weekend. Picking up the other first-place vote is No. 2 Wisconsin-River Falls. The Falcons moved up two places despite a tie with St. Thomas and a narrow, 2-1 win over St. Mary’s.
Dropping to third is Norwich, which dropped an exhibition to Curry. The Colonels’ win over the Cadets, and a league victory against Franklin Pierce, moved Curry to No. 7 from tenth place.
St. Norbert, with strong wins over Hamline and Bethel, moved up three spots to No. 4, while St. Thomas, with the River Falls tie and a loss to Wisconsin-Stout, drops just two spots to No. 3.
Manhattanville, with a home win against RIT, moves up five spots to No. 6, while the Tigers drop four spots to ninth.
St. John’s, which finally sees action this weekend, stays at No. 8. Also in the west, Wisconsin-Superior moves up two places to No. 10 after lopsided wins against Augsburg and Concordia.
Upsets in the SUNYAC caused some turmoil in the poll this week: Oswego, after giving up a game-winning goal in the last minute to Geneseo plummets five spots to No. 11, and Fredonia, with an upset win against Plattsburgh, enters the poll at No. 12, just ahead of the No. 13 Cardinals, who dropped four places from last week.
New England College and Hobart remain in the final two spots in the poll.
Bumped from the poll is Lake Forest after a loss to Bethel on Friday. The Foresters still received votes, as did Trinity, St. Olaf, Wisconsin-Stout, Babson, St. Mary’s, Wentworth, Elmira, and Bethel.
