Union Drops In The Rankings

Union dropped two games and won once against Colgate this weekend. They will be off this upcoming weekend and will await to see where they end up in the NCAA Tournament.

This is where they currently stand in the rankings:

USCHO: down 5 spots to #9
INCH: down 4 spots to #7
USA Today/USAHM: drop 4 spots for a tie for #8 with Notre Dame
TCHB: down 6 spots to #9

PWR: 9th
RPI: 8th
KRACH: 10th

Here are some links pertaining to where Union could end up in the NCAA tournament:

USCHO's Jayson Moy has Union as the 9-seed playing in Bridgeport against Merrimack and with Yale and RIT. (click here)

Have fun with USCHO's PairWise Predictor to figure out all the different scenarios of how different teams can and cannot make the NCAA tournament. (click here)

The College Hockey Blog has Union in Green Bay for the NCAA Tourney playing Michigan, and with Miami and Boston University. (click here)

Taking A Look At The Rankings

Union had this past weekend off because of the first round bye. But, there were still college hockey games this weekend. The Dutchmen will play Colgate this weekend in the playoffs.

Here is where Union sits in the rankings:

USCHO: stay at 4th
INCH: stay at 3rd
USA Today/USAHM: stay at 4th
TCHB: stay at 3rd


PWR: tied for 6th with UNO
RPI: 4th
KRACH: 6th

This weekend the Dutchmen will host Colgate in the ECAC Quarterfinals. Last night the Raiders beat RPI at HFH in overtime in the decisive third game. This was the second year in a row that the Engineers were bounced from the first round of the playoffs. Last season they lost to 11th-seed Brown in three games.

You can read Jeffrey Haff's (Daily Gazette) observations from last night by clicking here.

I watched the post-game interviews with Seth Appert and Chase Polacek on YNN last night, and they were visibly upset. Even though I hate RPI (like most Union students and fans), I feel a little bad for Polacek and am a bit disappointed. Polacek is one of the best players I've seen in the ECAC in my four years, and he deserved to go out on a better note. He's probably my pick for the ECAC MVP. I was also looking forward to Union and RPI meeting up again one more time whether that were in the ECAC Final Four or the NCAA Tournament. The Engineers had a great season until they fell apart in the past few weeks. But, Polacek and York can only do so much. Besides those two stars and a few others, there really wasn't too much after that.

I admit that even a part of me last night wanted to see RPI win so we could play St. Lawrence instead of Colgate. I just feel SLU is a less dangerous team than the Raiders despite their upset of Princeton on the road (something I don't think anyone predicted).

Anyways, all of our focus is now on Colgate. The Raiders seem  to have hit their stride at the right time and have now proven that they can travel to the Capital District and win two games by close scores. Union has won both meetings with Colgate this season and have an outstanding record at home, but it's still very difficult to beat a team four times in one season. I still have the utmost confidence in our guys to win two games at Messa Rink.

We Are Very Good!

This past weekend the Dutchmen won their first Cleary Cup by tying Quinnipiac 2-2 on Friday and beating Princeton 5-0 the following night.

Union has a first round bye and will be off this upcoming weekend.

Here is where they stand in the national rankings:

USCHO: up one spot to #4 (one first place vote)
INCH: up one spot to #3
USA Today/USAHM: up one spot to #4
TCHB: down one spot to #3

PWR: tied for 6th with Merrimack
RPI: 4th
KRACH: 6th

Pretty unbelievable!

Union Gets More Love In The Polls

This past weekend the Dutchmen swept the North Country. On Friday they beat Clarkson 4-3 in overtime and followed that up with a 5-2 win over St. Lawrence.

Once again, Union has moved up in the USCHO poll:

USCHO: up two spots to 5th

INCH: stay at 4th
USA Today/ USAHM: up two spots to 5th

PWR: tied for 8th with UNO
RPI: 4th
KRACH: 7th

This weekend Union wraps up the regular season at Messa Rink against Quinnipiac and Princeton. With two games to play, the Dutchmen are in first place and one point ahead of Yale in the ECAC standings. They control their own destiny. If they win both games they will be the top-seed in the ECAC playoffs, and will probably secure a bid to the NCAA tournament.

Union Keeps Moving Up!!!

This past weekend the Dutchmen demolished Cornell 4-0 and then come from behind to beat Colgate the following night 6-3. As a result Union has moved up into elite company in the national polls.

Here's what Justin has to say on this success:

"I hope everyone is finally realizing we're living the beginning of the golden years for Union hockey. This is truly becoming a historically incredible season. This is why college sports are so special folks. These players aren't getting paid for what they do. We're not paying thousands of dollars to be season ticket holders. Together, we're purely doing this for the love of Union College, the love of college hockey, and for love of enjoying life. It's truly something remarkable."

USCHO: up two spots to 7th
INCH: up three spots to 4th
USA Today/ USAHM: up two spots to 7th

PWR: tied for 7th with Nebraska-Omaha
RPI: 6th
KRACH: 7th

After the weekend I predicted Union to finish 7th and it looks like pretty much everyone agrees with me. I think the INCH ranking is a little too high, but we definitely appreciate the love. Meanwhile, RPI lost two overtime games this weekend and dropped a lot in the rankings. I'm not surprised that they fell, but the amount they fell was a bit surprising to me.

Also, the Jason Klump's report about his incident with Paul Stewart at Messa Rink is up on Without A Peer. According to Ken Schott, ECAC commissioner Steve Hagwell will talk to Stewart about the incident.

Dutchmen Move Up In The Polls

This past weekend Union had two come-from-behind wins at Princeton and Quinnipiac. Against Princeton they were down 4-1 only to score six unanswered goals to win 7-4. The following night the team saw themselves down 2-1 heading into the third period only to have senior captain Brock Matheson tie the game and his classmate Justin Pallos win the game in overtime.

In the ECAC standings the Dutchmen are in second place just one point behind Yale and are four points ahead of third place RPI, who picked up three points on the weekend and saw their star goaltender Allen York get hurt.

Union has clinched home ice in their opening playoff series and are the first team in the nation to win 20 games this season. They should clinch a first round bye in the ECAC playoffs this weekend.

Here is where Union sits in the standings:

USCHO: up two spots to #9 (highest ranking ever)
INCH: up one spot to #7
USA Today/ USAHM: up two spots to #9

PWR: tied for 9trh with Merrimack
RPI: 7th
KRACH: 8th

This weekend the Dutchmen welcome a resurgent Cornell team and a Colgate team that won their first ECAC game of the season this past Saturday.

Union Moves Up In The Polls

This past weekend the Dutchmen upset #1 Yale 3-2 and then beat Brown 4-2, both at Messa Rink. RPI also beat Yale over the weekend. The Bulldogs have now lost their #1 ranking.

Here's where Union stands:

USCHO: up two spots to 11th
INCH: up one spot to 8th
USA Today/ USA Hockey Magazine: up one spot to 11th
PWR: tied for 12th with Merrimack
RPI: 9th
KRACH: 10th

This weekend Union travels to Princeton (who is ranked in the top 20) and Quinnipiac.

Union Drops In The Polls

This past weekend at Messa Rink, Union lost a huge game to Dartmouth 4-1, but came back in the third period to beat Harvard 2-1. The loss to the Big Green really hurt as Union dropped in the national rankings.

Here is where the Dutchmen stand:

USCHO: down one spot to #13
INCH: down one spot to #9
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine: down two spots to 12th
PWR: 15th
RPI: 10th
KRACH: 12th

Where Is Union In The Polls?

This past weekend the Dutchmen swept their trip to Central New York for the first time since 1998. They beat Colgate 2-1 and then destroyed Cornell 5-1. Here is where Union stands after a solid weekend:

USCHO: up two spots to 12th
INCH: up two spots to 8th
USA Today/ USA Hockey Magazine: up two spots to 10th
PWR: tied for 12th with Boston University
RPI: 10th
KRACH: 10th

Up next for Union is Dartmouth and Harvard. The Dartmouth game is especially important since the Big Green are ahead of the Dutchmen in the PWR.

Union In The Polls

This past weekend the Dutchmen swept their North Country foes as they beat St. Lawrence 3-1 and Clarkson 8-1.

Here is where Union stands in the national polls:
USCHO: up one spot to #14
INCH: up two spots to #10
USA Today/ USA Hockey Magazine: up one spot to #13

Here is where Union stands in the calculated polls:
PWR: tied for #13 with Western Michigan
RPI: #12
KRACH: #13

It seems that the consensus is that Union should be ranked somewhere between #12 and #14. I don't think they deserve #12 as of now, but #14 sounds about right; right on the cusp of a national tournament berth. Once again, INCH overrated the Dutchmen, which is something they've been doing all season. But, as a fan I really can't complain (haha).

Union Drops In The Polls

This past weekend Union split games at the Mariucci Classic as they beat Minnesota but fell to Bemidji State. The second half of the season begins this weekend where Union plays 16 ECAC games, 10 of which are at Messa Rink. There are many more important games to be played and each game will become more important as the season goes on.

Here is where Union stands in the different polls:

USCHO: 15th --> 25th consecutive week
PWR: 16th
KRACH: 17th
USA Today/USA Hockey: 14th
INCH: 12th

These rankings are more realistic than they have been in the past weeks. I felt that the Dutchmen were ranked to high, but #14 - #17 is where I see this team. Union has proven at times to be a national tournament team, but at other times has shown that they unable to beat good teams when they need to. Maybe the return of Adam Presizniuk will help them creep back up the standings. It should be interesting to see where Union ends up in a few months.

On another note, RPI is climbing up the rankings. They have some players that are playing excellent right now such as forwards Chase Polacek and Tyler Helfrich, defenseman Nick Bailen, and goaltender Allen York. As of this moment, the Engineers have proven me wrong and now I think they will definitely be in contention for a Top 3 spot in the ECAC standings. But, don't look too much into their past two games as they beat Alabama-Huntsville (2-18-2) by the score of 2-1 on back-to-back nights. Anything can happen once ECAC play gets underway this weekend...

By the way, USA faces off against Canada tonight at 7:30pm in the semifinals of the 2011 World Junior Championships. The game will be shown on the NHL Network. For complete game notes click here.

Union in the Rankings

The Dutchmen were off for the second weekend in a row. They return to league play at Brown and Yale this weekend.

INCH: Union moves up two spots to #8... Yale is ranked second

USCHO: Union stays at #13... RPI moves up one spot to #16

USA Today/ USA Hockey Magazine: Union drops one spot to #13... just six points behind #12 Notre Dame

Union In The Polls

Union did not play last week and are off this weekend as well:

- The Dutchmen move up one spot to #13 in the USCHO poll.

- The INCH Poll keeps Union at #10.

Here is Union's schedule for the Winter Break:

12/3 at Brown
12/5 at Yale (on ESPNU)
12/10 vs. AIC
12/11 vs. Army
12/18 at Western Michigan
12/19 at Western Michigan
12/31 vs. Minnesota (Dodge Holiday Classic, Minnesota)
1/1 vs. Bemidji (Dodge Holiday Classic, Minnesota)

Union falls in National Rankings

Union had two heart-wrenching games against RPI this weekend winning 2-1 at home and losing 4-3 on the road. As a result, the Dutchmen have moved down a few spots in some rankings.

USCHO: moves down two spots to #14. Union is just 14 points behind #13 Denver and 14 points behind #12 Alaska. The Dutchmen are in this poll for the 20th consecutive week.

INCH: drops three spots to #10.

The College Hockey Blog: moves down three spots to #9

Movin' On Up

After a win at Harvard and a tie at Dartmouth, Union has moved up in the national rankings:

USCHO: Union moves up to 12th (421 points) from 15th.

INCH: The Dutchmen jump two spots to #7.

USA Today/ USA Hockey Magazine: U moves up two spots to #12.

This is the highest Union has been in the USCHO poll since December 4, 2000 when they were ranked 12th. The highest the Dutchmen have been in the poll was 11th on Nov. 27, 2000. Also, this is the nineteenth consecutive week that Union has been in the poll, which is a school record. Maybe if the Dutchmen have a successful weekend against RPI they will move into the Top 10.

Hitting the Links

First off, I want to say thank you to all my readers. Union Hockey Blog had over 9,100 views in October! That's more than double the amount of the views in September! I really love doing this and I hope everyone that reads the blog enjoys doing so. The support of the readers is really what motivates me to make this blog the best it can be.

That being said you can follow more of UHB on Twitter (@UnionHockeyBlog) and on Facebook by becoming a fan of the UHB Facebook page.

Thanks Again!

Here are some important links from Monday:

- Union is tied for 15th with Wisconsin in the USCHO poll.

- Union falls one spot to #14 in the USA Today/USA Hockey magazine poll.

- Union stays at #9 in the INCH poll.

- USCHO's Brian Sullivan has Union 15th in his national rankings and gives out ECAC weekly awards.

- Ken Schott asks questions about all of the ECAC teams in his weekly "College Hockey Slap Schotts" segment.

- Denver forward Jesse Martin is in stable condition after being seriously injured against North Dakota on Saturday. For more on Martin's injury click here. Get well soon Jesse, the whole college hockey community is behind you! Here is the video of what happened:

Goals lift Union in the USCHO poll

Here are the polls for this week:

Union moves up to #16 in the USCHO poll.

Also, the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll has Union at #16 just one point behind #15 Wisconsin.

Union gets some love in the pre-season polls

Senior forward Adam Presizniuk

United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) and Inside College Hockey (INCH) both came out with their pre-season polls today. Union was ranked in the Top 20 in both polls.

USCHO has the Dutchmen ranked at #19 with 136 points, between RIT and Colorado College. On top of this poll is defending national champion Boston College. Other ECAC teams receiving votes in the Top 20 were Yale (#6, 719 points) and Cornell (#11, 509 points). RPI received 32 points which is good for 27th.

The INCH poll has Union ranked even higher at #12. The surprising thing about this poll is the way the ECAC teams are ranked. Yale is picked 7th, followed by Union at #12 and RPI at #13. Cornell is picked below both the Dutchmen and Engineers at #15, which is a little surprising to me. After the Big Red comes Harvard (#27), Brown (#30), Dartmouth (#37), St. Lawrence (#38), Colgate (#40), Princeton (#43), Quinnipiac (#45), and Clarkson (#51). On top of this poll is the North Dakota, and at the bottom is AIC.

Last Monday, the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll came out. Union accumulated 34 points, which is good for #20. Yale was picked at #5 and Cornell was placed at #10.

So, if you were to average out all of these rankings Union would be picked to finish at #17, which is right on the cusp of a NCAA tournament berth. By the way, this calculation doesn't mean anything... just some wishful thinking on my part.

These rankings are both good and bad for the Dutchmen. First the bad news... The college hockey world now knows that Union is a force to be reckoned with, so they will never be taken lightly like they were in the past. Union now has a target on their back. Now the good news... Union is seen as a competitor for the national tournament and as a power in college hockey for the first time in program history. National powers will want to play against Union and recruits will want to play for Union.

Maybe we'll see what Coach Leaman has to say about the rankings during Media Day today.

Ferris Ranked 10th In The Midwest Region ... AGAIN!

BIG RAPIDS - It's not time to sweat just yet, but Ferris State University bumping its head against an invisible ceiling as it attempts to climb the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Softball Rankings.

For the third consecutive week, the Bulldogs are ranked 10th in the r

egion according to the latest poll released April 28. Again, it's no time to panic as there are still more than enough softball games and opportunities left for head coach Keri Becker's Bulldogs to truly climb the ladder. Ferris, however, seemed to have greatly helped its cause by sweeping No. 17 Saginaw Valley State and splitting with No. 9 Wayne State last weekend in a pair of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheaders.

If Ferris can remain consistent, finish the regular season strong and play its best ball in the GLIAC Tournament then the rankings will take care of themselves.

Ferris, led by senior designated player/pitcher Rhea Flores (pictured) currently is 24-16 overall and 15-9 in the GLIAC.

Check below for the NCAA Division II Midwest Region rankings:

This Saturday, the Bulldogs wrap up regular-season play when they travel to Allendale to take on Grand Valley State in a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.

The top 10 teams in each region are listed in rank order with records as of April 26.

Midwest Region	Division II	In-Region
1. Wayne State (Mich.)	41-10	28-7
2. Ashland	31-11	30-9
3. Lewis	27-11	24-7
4. Indianapolis	32-13	27-7
5. Saginaw Valley State	20-10	16-9
6. Quincy	34-10	31-8
7. Tiffin	27-16	25-13
8. Northern Kentucky	28-15	27-14
9. Northwood	20-14	18-11
10. Ferris State	23-15	21-12

Ferris Ranked 10th In the Region In Latest Poll

BIG RAPIDS - There remains a lot of softball left to be played this season, but Ferris State University currently is ranked 10th in the NCAA Division II Midwest Region rankings that were released on April 14.

The rankings mean that, as of right now, Ferris is within striking distance of earning a spot in the NCAA Division II Tournament (the top eight teams in the region at the end of the season will qualify for the NCAA Division II Tournament). The top two teams host sub-regional tournaments (May 14-16) and the winners of the two sub-regional tournaments (May 21-22) will play in the super regional for the right to advance to the NCAA Division II Championships (May 27-31) which will be played in St. Joseph, Mo.

The current regional rankings show that Ferris still has a lot of work to do to remain in those regional rankings, but also has a lot of opportunities to move up.The Bulldogs have yet to face No. 2 Ashland University, No. 3 Wayne State University and No. 8 Tiffin University (all teams ranked ahead of the Bulldogs in the region). Also, Ferris still has three games to make up against No. 9 Northwood University.

Grand Valley State University, among other programs, is right there with a good record and the potential to move up.

Lots of softball remains to be played for Ferris and others.

Midwest Region	Division II	In-Region
1. Saginaw Valley State	18-4	14-3
2. Ashland	21-9	20-7
3. Wayne State (Mich.)	31-8	18-5
4. Lewis	19-7	16-3
5. Indianapolis	26-11	21-5
6. Northern Kentucky	21-10	20-9
7. Quincy	23-8	20-6
8. Tiffin	16-13	14-10
9. Northwood	12-9	10-6
10. Ferris State	15-10	13-7