After a thrilling weekend between top teams, Minnesota emerged with two wins and first-place in this week’s USCHO.com Division I Women’s Poll. With a 5-3 victory over No. 6 Brown and a 4-3 win over No. 2 Harvard, Minnesota ascended into the top spot. The Gophers earned 14 of 15 first-place votes.
Harvard delivered an impressive 2-1 win over previously undefeated Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday before falling to the Gophers the next day. The Crimson received the other first-place vote, and finished at No. 2 in the nation.
The only team to finish at No. 1 previously this season, Minnesota-Duluth, dropped two spots to No. 3 following the 2-1 loss with Harvard and a 1-1 tie with Brown. The Bulldogs out-shot both opponents for the weekend.
Despite the loss and tie this weekend, Brown moved up one spot to No. 6. The team is now 2-3-1 for the season, having played five of its six games with teams receiving votes in this week’s poll.
Minnesota will celebrate its new first-place ranking with a trip to St. Lawrence to take on the No. 5 Saints for two games. Also on tap is a Hockey East-ECAC showdown between No. 9 Providence and No. 4 Dartmouth on Saturday.
The USCHO.com Poll is compiled by U.S. College Hockey Online, and consists of 15 voters, including 11 coaches of Division I programs and four women’s hockey writers.
