For the first time in over two months, a new number-one team in the nation was declared in the USCHO.com/CSTV Division I men’s poll.
New Hampshire rose to the top of the pile in Monday’s release, garnering 36 of 40 first-place votes after beating Providence in its lone game of the weekend.
Coming in at No. 2 was Notre Dame, which took three of four points from Miami over the weekend and picked up one first-place nod as well. Former No. 1 Minnesota, which was swept at home by North Dakota, slipped to No. 3 but retained three first-place votes.
St. Cloud State and Denver, which split a weekend series, stayed in the same positions as last week, at fourth and fifth, respectively.
Michigan State, which has won nine of its last 10 games after taking two from Lake Superior State a week ago, climbed three spots to No. 6 this time around despite being idle over the weekend. The Spartans were trailed by Boston University, which held its ground at No. 7 in the wake of a Wednesday-Friday split with archrival Boston College and a Saturday tie with Massachusetts.
Clarkson moved up two positions to eighth after beating St. Lawrence and Harvard and tying Dartmouth since the last poll a week ago. The Golden Knights were followed by Maine, which fell three places to No. 9 after a split with Northeastern. Miami rounded out the upper half of the poll.
Opening the next 10 teams was No. 11 Michigan, which swept Ferris State, and North Dakota climbed three spots to 12th after its weekend in Minneapolis.
Boston College was No. 13 in the wake of its split with BU and win over Massachusetts-Lowell, while Vermont slipped to No. 14 after two ties with Merrimack. Colorado College, which took only one point against Michigan Tech, dropped to 15th.
Niagara held firm at No. 16 with a sweep of Wayne State, while St. Lawrence was again No. 17, beating Harvard and Dartmouth after its loss to Clarkson. Quinnipiac, which shut out Holy Cross in the opening of its TD Banknorth Sports Center, moved up two places to No. 18.
Completing the poll were No. 19 Massachusetts, which entered after its tie with BU and a win over UML, and then No. 20 Cornell, which clung to the last spot after a split with Colgate. Dropping out of the top 20 was Lake Superior State.
