A tie with Norwich — and the loss of the Primelink Tournament title in a shootout — was enough to take four first place votes away from Middlebury, but the Panthers hung on to the top spot in this week’s USCHO.com Division III men’s poll.
Norwich is second in the poll, garnering three first-place votes, while climbing all of the way to No. 3, with one first-place vote, is 6-0-0 Manhattanville.
The Valiants displaced St. Norbert to fourth, while Wisconsin-River Falls stayed at the No. 5 spot.
St. John’s, at 5-0-0, moved up one spot to No. 6 in the poll, while Wisconsin-Superior gained two positions to No. 7.
After two weekend road wins against New England College and Williams, RIT moved up two spots to No. 8, while Curry, which lost an overtime home game to Manhattanville, dropped from sixth to ninth.
Oswego, after downing the same two foes as RIT, moved up two spots to No. 10, followed by SUNYAC rival Fredonia.
St. Thomas dropped four places to No. 12, after a win and a loss against NCHA foes. Trinity, after taking the Conn. College tournament, moved up one spot to No. 13. Hobart also moved up one position to No. 14.
Entering the poll at No. 15 is Bethel; the Royals are off to a 5-2-0 start with wins over four NCHA opponents, including No. 5 River Falls.
Dropping from the USCHO.com D-III men’s poll for the first time ever was Plattsburgh. The Cardinals lost to Middlebury and Potsdam in the Primelink Tournament.
Also receiving votes were Bowdoin, Wisconsin-Stout, Plattsburgh, Colby, St. Olaf, Geneseo, and Babson.
