Middlebury made it four weeks in a row, as the Panthers finished as the unanimous No. 1 in this week’s USCHO.com Men’s Division III poll. Middlebury (2-0-0) opened its season with lopsided wins over Castleton State and Skidmore. Moving up one place to second is Norwich, which also won both of its opening weekend games.
St. Norbert moved up one spot to No. 3, after wins over St. Olaf and Gustavus Adolphus. Manhattanville moved up two places to fourth, after a pair of wins over Buffalo State.
Wisconsin-River Falls, which had gotten a first-place vote last week, dropped from second to fifth in the poll. The Falcons dropped a 2-1 decision to Bethel at home on Friday. Curry moves up one position to No. 6.
St. John’s, with a pair of opening weekend wins, moves up one spot to No. 7, while conference rival St. Thomas drops three places to No. 8, after ties with St. Scholastica and No. 9 Wisconsin-Superior. The Yellowjackets moved up from the tenth spot after also narrowly beating St. Mary’s.
RIT moved down one place to No. 10, while not seeing any action during fall quarter exams. Fredonia and Oswego swapped positions at Nos. 11 and 12; the Blue Devils went to 5-0 in the SUNYAC with a win over Buffalo State. Plattsburgh stays at No. 13 after a win over Elmira, while Trinity, with wins against Southern Maine and Salem State, re-enters the poll at No. 14.
At No. 15 again this week is Hobart. The Statesmen had one-goal wins over Potsdam and Brockport. Bumped from the poll is New England College; the Pilgrims lost to Bowdoin and Colby over the weekend.
Also receiving votes were Bethel, St. Olaf, Wisconsin-Stout, Wentworth, Bowdoin, Babson, and Lake Forest.
The USCHO.com Men’s D-III poll is voted on by coaches representing all eight conferences and by D-III beat writers.
