SB Nation’s Women’s College Hockey Division I Poll: Regular risers

Another week, another swap between the big two WCHA atop the poll.  This week will hopefully be helpful in breaking some confusion for our pollsters.

1. Wisconsin (21-2-1), 96 (6) — Last poll: 2

•  Last Week:  No Games

•  Coming Week: v Minnesota (1/24, 1/25)

Avoiding losing by being idle was enough for the Badgers to reclaim the top spot. That will be on the line in a big way as they play host to Minnesota, needing to win the weekend to have a chance at a WCHA crown.

2. Minnesota (20-2-3), 85 (1) — Last poll: 1

•  Last week: L 1-4 v Ohio State (1/17), W 2-1 v Ohio State (1/18)

•  Coming Week: @ Wisconsin (1/24, 1/25)

The Gophers were able to rebound from a tough home loss when they moved the game outside and squeezed by Ohio State.  Now they will travel across ‘The Border’ to likely settle the WCHA regular season race.

3. Northeastern (19-3-1), 80 (3) — Last poll: 3

•  Last week: W 4-0 v Connecticut (1/17), W 3-0 @ Connecticut (1/18)

•  Coming Week: @ Vermont (1/24, 1/25)

Another weekend another pair of shutouts for the Huskies, this time by two different goalies.  The shutout streak will be on the line on a trip to northern New England with a pair against the Catamounts.

4. Cornell (16-1-2), 76 — Last poll: 4

•  Last week: W 5-1 v Dartmouth (1/17), W 7-0 v Harvard (1/18)

•  Coming Week: v Colgate (1/24), @ Colgate (1/24)

After a rather disappointing going last weekend, the Big Red dominated the color battle beating both the Big Green and Crimson rather decidedly.  They will now play a pair against their travel partner who has become hot as of late.

5. Ohio State (14-6-4), 60 — Last poll: 5

•  Last week: W 4-1 @ Minnesota (1/17), L 1-2 @ Minnesota (1/18)

•  Coming Week: v Quinnipiac (1/24, 1/25)

The top four of our poll are very entrenched for almost everyone who watches hockey right now but Ohio State has come back from being on the brink of falling out of this poll to knocking on the door to move up a tier.

This weekend they beat Minnesota handily and then lost a close game, earning them the title of ‘Belles of the Ball’ this week.  This weekend will bring a tough mid-tier eastern team to Columbus for some very important PWR games.

6. Princeton (14-4-1), 51 — Last poll: 6

•  Last week: No Games

•  Coming Week: No games

The Tigers are taking a midseason break and will return in a week.

7. Clarkson (16-4-4), 36 — Last poll: 7

•  Last week: W 2-1 v St. Lawrence (1/17), L 0-1 @ St. Lawrence (1/18)

•  Coming Week: v Dartmouth (1/24), v Harvard (1/25)

In years past a split against St. Lawrence would’ve been an acceptable result, but this year it is catastrophic. This weekend has started to become must win territory as they risk traveling for the ECAC quarter finals.

8. Boston University (16-5-2), 30 — Last poll: 8

•  Last week: W 4-1 v Holy Cross (1/17), W 4-1 @ Holy Cross (1/18)

•  Coming Week:  v Merrimack (1/24), @ Merrimack (1/25)

The Terriers are in the midst of a tour of the bottom of Hockey East and will finish up with a pair against Merrimack.

9. Minnesota-Duluth (11-8-3), 19 — Last poll: 10

•  Last week: W 4-0 v Bemidji State (1/17), W 4-2 v Bemidji State (1/18)

•  Coming Week: @ St. Cloud State (1/24, 1/25)

A sweep of Bemidji State brings the Bulldogs into a tie for fourth place with games in hand. Now a trip to St. Cloud should yield another pair of wins.

10. Harvard (10-7-1), 7 — Last poll: 9

•  Last week: L 2-5 @ Colgate (1/17), L 0-7 @ Cornell (1/18)

•  Coming Week: @ St. Lawrence (1/24), @ Clarkson (1/25)

The Crimson are freefalling again.  A weekend trip to the North Country will be telling whether or not they are contenders.

Also Receiving Votes: Quinnipiac 5, Colgate 2, Robert Morris 2, Boston College 1