CIS Hockey Top 10 (#2): Redmen move up to seventh in nation
OTTAWA (CIS) - The º«¹úÂãÎè Redmen have moved up to seventh place in the CIS men's hockey national rankings, their second consecutive appearance in the weekly media poll. º«¹úÂãÎè moved up one spot in the wake of a solid performance against a couple of NCAA Ivy League teams, aÌý 3-3 overtime tie at Harvard and a 7-4 win at Dartmouth.
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The reigning University Cup champion UNB Varsity Reds top the poll for the second consecutive week The V-Reds, who captured their second national title in three years last winter, improved to 4-0 in conference play over the past weekend with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Acadia and a 7-4 win over the No. 5-Saint Mary's Huskies (3-1), the defending AUS champions.
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The UNB - Saint Mary's rivalry resumes Saturday night in Fredericton. The Huskies beat the V-Reds in three games in last year's best-of-three conference final, but Saint Mary's couldn't advance past pool play at the Nationals in Thunder Bay while UNB went on to capture the CIS banner.
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Rounding out the second Top 10 of the young campaign are the No. 2-Alberta Golden Bears (5-0-1), No. 3-UQTR Patriotes (5-0), No. 4-Lakehead Thunderwolves (5-0-1), No. 6-Manitoba Bisons (5-2-1), No. 7-º«¹úÂãÎè Redmen (2-0), No. 8-Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (5-0-1), No. 9-Nipissing Lakers (5-1-1), and No. 10-Waterloo Warriors (4-1-1).
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No. 2 Alberta was solid during a weekend sweep of archrival Saskatchewan, outscoring the Huskies 6-4 and 4-1 despite being outshot in both duels.
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Meanwhile, a trio of OUA teams are big winners in this week's rankings.
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Lakehead moves up three spots to No. 4 after a weekend sweep of Brock, which was ranked sixth in the nation going into the doubleheader. The T-Wolves prevailed 4-0 and 4-3.
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Laurier cracks the Top 10 for the first time this season thanks to a pair of thrilling wins, a 4-3 overtime affair over Guelph and a 5-4 shootout decision over York.
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First-year Nipissing continued to roll improving to 5-1-1 in OUA play with a 4-1 defeat of Concordia and a 2-1 victory over Ottawa. The Lakers are ranked nationally for the first time in their young history.
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CIS MEN'S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#2)
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Voting is based on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, with a 1st place vote worth 10 points. The CIS Men's Ice Hockey Top Ten Committee is made up of media members from across Canada.
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(Regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (last week)
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1. UNB (4-0) / 180 points (18) / (1)
2. Alberta (5-0-1) / 155 / (2)
3. UQTR (5-0) / 125 / (4)
4. Lakehead (5-0-1) / 120 / (7)
5. Saint Mary's (3-1) / 105 / (5)
6. Manitoba (5-2-1) / 92 / (3)
7. º«¹úÂãÎè (2-0) / 78 / (8)
8. Wilfrid Laurier (5-0-1) / 61 / (NR)
9. Nipissing (5-1-1) / 18 / (NR)
10. Waterloo (4-1-1) / 15 / (10)
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Other teams receiving votes: Brock (13), Acadia (10), Calgary (10), Lethbridge (6), UBC (2).
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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman, º«¹úÂãÎè
Michel Bélanger, CIS
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