Soaring Eagles Top Poll and PWR For DIII Women

In the biggest game of the weekend, USCHO.com Division III Women’s Poll No. 1 Elmira delivered a 2-1 victory over No. 3 Manhattanville, despite being out-shot by a 37-30 margin for the game. The Soaring Eagle have still not lost a game to a Division III opponent, and faces no more ranked teams for the remainder of the season. Elmira sits atop the Division III Women’s East Region Pairwise Rankings (PWR), a computer ranking that mimcs the NCAA selection process.

No. 2 Bowdoin had a three win week, and also remains undefeated in Division III games, weighing in with a 12-0-2 record. After a Wednesday game at Colby, Bowdoin plays host to a pair of western teams, 10-3-1 Concordia and No. 8 St. Thomas.

St. Thomas just handed the first two consecutive losses to Concordia this season, and the teams stand at No. 1 and No. 6, respectively, in the Division III Women’s West Region PWR. The Tommies visit Southern Maine, No. 8 in the PWR East, Williams, which stands at No. 5 in this week’s poll, and Bowdoin, which is No. 2 in both the poll and the East PWR. The Cobbers play “just” No. 2 Bowdoin and No. 5 Williams.

Another pair of teams making an eastern trip includes St. Catherine and Gustavus Adolphus. The Gusties, No. 4 in the West PWR, faces a tough test in No. 3 Manhattanville and No. 4 Middlebury. St. Catherine plays Middlebury and No. 6 Plattsburgh. As if that weren’t enough, Middlebury and Manhattanville play on Saturday afternoon.

The USCHO.com Poll is compiled by U.S. College Hockey Online, and consists of 12 voters, all coaches of Division III programs.

The East and West Region PairWise Rankings attempt to mimic the process used by the NCAA Division III Selection Committee to determine participants for the men’s hockey tournament. A team is only compared against Division III teams within that team’s region.

The PWR can be reformatted and redistributed by any media outlet or person, provided USCHO’s URL (http://www.uscho.com/) accompanies the results.