Minnesota’s first loss in 23 games didn’t stop the Golden Gophers from ruling Monday’s USCHO.com/CSTV Division I men’s poll for the eighth straight time, though the decision wasn’t unanimous this time around.
The Gophers, who lost to Wisconsin Friday before bouncing back for a Saturday win, pulled in 35 of 40 first-place votes to outdistance New Hampshire. The No. 2 Wildcats got the remaining five nods after beating Dartmouth in Manchester, N.H., Saturday.
Notre Dame rebounded two spots to No. 3 after a tough sweep of Lake Superior State, while Maine fell from second to fourth after losing a pair to Boston University. Denver completed the top five, edging up two places with a sweep of Niagara.
St. Cloud State, like Minnesota, saw a lengthy unbeaten streak snapped over the weekend, dropping to No. 6 after taking one point in a series with Minnesota State. Boston College came in at No. 7, beating Merrimack Wednesday and Friday.
No. 8 this week was Boston University, which zoomed up four places after its sweep of Maine. The Terriers were followed by ninth-ranked Miami, which split with Western Michigan last weekend. And Clarkson battled to a pair of ties against Colgate and Cornell, running its unbeaten streak to nine and settling in at No. 10 in Monday’s poll.
Michigan State beat Alaska twice but still slipped one place to No. 11 as the Terriers cruised past. Colorado College split against Minnesota-Duluth to rank 12th, and Michigan stayed put at No. 13 after beating Bowling Green and splitting with Northern Michigan.
No. 14 Vermont rebounded four places from last week’s rankings in the wake of a three-point weekend against Northeastern, while Cornell finished 15th, losing to St. Lawrence and tying Clarkson.
Quinnipiac held down the No. 16 slot, up three places after beating Brown and Yale. The Bobcats were trailed by Lake Superior State, then North Dakota, newly-ranked St. Lawrence and Niagara.
Dropping out of the poll was Bemidji State, which lost twice to Michigan Tech.
