Clearly voters in both camps are not easily swayed.
For the second consecutive poll, the same number of voters gave perpetual No. 1 St. Norbert and proverbial bridesmaid Plattsburgh the exact same number of points — 295 and 285, respectively — as they did a week ago. The first place vote allocation, 15 and five, also remained unchanged.
This stasis arose from the Green Knights defeating a pair of ranked teams (then-sixth ranked UW-Stevens Point, 5-2, and former No. 12 UW-Eau Claire, 4-3) and the Cardinals shutting out both conference foes Brockport and Geneseo by identical 5-0 scores.
Oswego’s position, too, remained the same despite a 5-5 home tie to Morrisville.
Impressive wins over then-No. 13 Neumann (3-1) and a 7-0 shellacking of Lebanon Valley gave voters enough reason to elevate the Elmira Soaring Eagles one spot to fourth. Similarly, previously eighth ranked UW-Superior jumped up three positions after wins over last week’s No. 10 UW-Stout (3-1) and UW-River Falls (3-0).
Two of four ranked teams — Norwich and Middlebury — who have not yet played a game this season, fell two and one spots to sixth and eighth, respectively.
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point landed in seventh after falling to top ranked St. Norbert, 5-2, and edging Lake Forest, 6-5.
Interestingly, UW-Eau Claire — yet another school from the Badger state making further in-roads in the latest poll — played the reverse of Point’s schedule (and with nearly identical results) yet the Blugolds jumped three spots to ninth after topping Lake Forest, 4-3, and falling by one goal in a nail biter in DePere, 4-3.
The Adrian Bulldogs swept Finlandia over the weekend but dropped to No. 10 nationally.
No. 11 Hobart had a good weekend, besting Lebanon Valley, 4-1, before triumphing 5-4 over Neumann in an overtime thriller in Aston, Pennsylvania. Junior forward Blake Bonham’s OT winner was his third goal of the game.
In one of Division III’s early feel-good stories, new-No. 12 Gustavus Adolphus (now 5-1 on the season) continues to roll along, using two shutouts of St. Mary’s to move up two positions in the poll.
Babson and Bowdoin, both 0-0-0 on the season, joined the rankings as Nos. 13 and 15, respectively.
With four wings in their first six games — including a weekend sweep of Concordia (Minnesota)– Hamline also entered the fray, landing at No. 14.
The University of Wisconsin-Stout, Neumann, and St. Scholastica all dropped out of this week’s poll after combining for only one win (the Saints over the Blue Devils, fittingly) in six contests.
