QU Women's Ice Hockey Maintains No. 4 Ranking in USCHO Poll
11/24/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
Hamden, Conn. – The Quinnipiac women's ice hockey stayed put at No. 4 to maintain its highest ranking in program history for the second consecutive week in the Nov. 24 USCHO.com Division I Women's Poll.
In the poll, the Bobcats received 106 points for the second straight week and a sizeable distance in front of No. 5 Clarkson who received 70 points.
Quinnipiac is also one of the highest ranked teams according to the most updated USCHO Pairwise Rankings as they are No. 3 in the country just behind Boston College and Minnesota who sit at No. 1 and 2, respectively. There is a total of seven ECAC Hockey women's teams that are ranked in the Top 16 that have an RPI of at least .500.
According to the website, the Pairwise Rankings are USCHO.com's "attempt to mimic the method used by the NCAA Selection Committee to determine participants for the NCAA Division I women's hockey tournament." They are updated after every game and compiled using a teams' record against common opponents, record against teams under consideration, head to head competition and the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).
This past weekend the Bobcats went 1-0-1 as they shut out the No. 5 Clarkson Golden Knights, 1-0, and tied the St. Lawrence Saints, 2-2.
Emma Woods (Burford, Ontario) scored two goals in the weekend, including the game-winning goal against Clarkson. Nicole Connery (Newmarket, Ontario) scored the game-tying goal against the Saints in the Saturday tilt. Goaltender Chelsea Laden faced the most shots in any weekend this season as she recorded 15 saves against Clarkson and 17 against St. Lawrence.
| Rank | Team | (First Place Votes) | Record | Points | Last Poll |
| 1 | Boston College | (15) | 13-0-1 | 150 | 1 |
| 2 | Minnesota | 11-1-2 | 133 | 2 | |
| 3 | Wisconsin | 13-2-1 | 120 | 3 | |
| 4 | Quinnipiac | 10-0-2 | 106 | 4 | |
| 5 | Clarkson | 10-4-1 | 70 | 5 | |
| 6 | Boston University | 9-3-2 | 67 | 7 | |
| 7 | Harvard | 2-1-2 | 66 | 6 | |
| 8 | Mercyhurst | 12-2-1 | 43 | 8 | |
| 9 | Minnesota Duluth | 10-4-2 | 40 | 10 | |
| 10 | Bemidji State | 7-4-1 | 22 | 9 |
There were not many changes in the USCHO.com Poll from last week as the top five teams remained the same. Boston College swept a home and home series with Connecticut scoring six goals in each game. Minnesota stayed at No. 2 after sweeping a home and home series with Minnesota State. Wisconsin picked up a sweep of its own with a home and home series with St. Cloud State. After the Bobcats at No. 4 is Clarkson who lost to Quinnipiac and defeated Princeton, 3-2. Boston University switched spots with Harvard and took over at No. 6 after tying Harvard 1-1 on Friday then dominating New Hampshire, 6-2. Harvard dropped to No. 7 after its tie with Boston University. Mercyhurst remained at No. 8 once again as the Lakers swept RIT. Minnesota Duluth and Bemidji State flip flopped for No. 9 and 10 as Minnesota Duluth swept Cornell over the weekend and Bemidji State had the weekend off.
Quinnipiac returns to action Tuesday night for a mid-week battle with ECAC foe Princeton at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink at 7 P.M.
