December 31, 2012

Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey Ranked 5th In USCHO.com Division I Poll

The Quinnipiac men's ice hockey team continued to climb in the national rankings after bringing its NCAA leading unbeaten streak to a program record 12 games (11-0-1). Following a pair of wins against No. 12/13 Nebraska-Omaha, Quinnipiac moved to 5th in the USCHO.com Division I poll, as announced on Monday, Dec. 31, 2012. 

  • The Bobcats entered this past weekend ranked 9th in both polls before sweeping No. 12/13 Nebraska Omaha, 5-4 and 3-1, at High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center on Dec. 29-30. 
  • Quinnipiac improved to 6-0-0 on the year against ranked opponents while also improving to 14-3-2 overall - good for a NCAA Division I leading winning percentage of .789. 
  • The Bobcats' 12-game unbeaten streak is also its longest since 2004-05 and is the longest in college hockey this season. 
  • The Bobcats' ranking this week is their highest since Nov. 30, 2009 when they reached the No. 4 slot in the USCHO.com poll and the 6th spot in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll.
USCHO.com  Division I Poll Dec. 31, 2012        
  Team (First Place Votes) Record Points Last Poll
1 Minnesota 35 13- 3-3 977 4
2 Boston College 5 12-3-1 922 1
3 Notre Dame 9 14- 4-0 913 3
4 New Hampshire   11-3-2 843 2
5 Quinnipiac   14- 3-2 769 9
6 Miami   12-4-4 730 5
7 North Dakota   10-5-3 720 7
8 Dartmouth 1 8-3-2 661 10
9 Boston University   10-6-0 612 6
10 Western Michigan   11-5-2 513 8
11 Denver   10-6-3 478 14
12 Cornell   7-4-2 425 11
13 Union   9-4-4 375 13
14 Minnesota State   12-6-2 336 18
15 St. Cloud State   12-8-0 291 16
16 Nebraska-Omaha   11-8-1 276 12
17 Yale   7-4-2 213 15
18 Niagara   10-3-4 124 17
19 Robert Morris   9-4-2 120 NR
20 Holy Cross   10-4-2 65 NR
Others receiving votes: Colgate 50, Ferris State 47, Providence 12, Harvard 10, Michigan Tech 5, Massachusetts 4, Massachusetts-Lowell 4, Northern Michigan 4, Colorado College 1.
  • Ben Arnt (Oakdale, Minn.) scored twice and assisted on a third goal for the weekend while Matthew Peca (Petawawa, Ontario) had a goal and two assists. Clay Harvey (Gull Lake, Saskatchewan) added a goal and an assist in the series while Jordan Samuels-Thomas (Windsor, Conn.) scored twice on Saturday, while also assisting on a third goal in the game. Kellen Jones (Montrose, British Columbia) had three assists for the weekend, while leading goal-scorer Jeremy Langlois (Tempe, Ariz.) had an assist in each game. Kevin Bui (Edmonton, Alberta) and Connor Jones (Montrose, British Columbia) also had goals.
  • Senior goalie Eric Hartzell (White Bear Lake, Minn.) stopped 33 of 37 shots on goal in a 5-4 win against UNO on Saturday before dominating play with a 28-save effort in a 3-1 win on Sunday for the series sweep. For the year, he is 14-2-2 (.833 winning percentage, 1st NCAA) with a .935 save percentage (13th-NCAA) and a 1.43 GAA (3rd-NCAA).
  • Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold earned his 350th career win on Saturday with the Bobcats' 5-4 defeat of Nebraska-Omaha. The only head coach in Quinnipiac's Division i history, Pecknold ranks ninth among all active coaches witih 351 career wins.
Active NCAA Division I Coaches  
1 925 Jerry York, Boston College
2 886 Jack Parker, Boston University
3 759 Red Berenson, Michigan
4 610 Don Lucia, Minnesota
5 582 George Gwozdecky, Denver
6 510 Dick Umile, New Hampshire
7 442 Rick Gotkin, Mercyhurst
8 356 Jeff Jackons, Notre Dame
9 351 Rand Pecknold, Quinnipiac
10 339 Mike Shafer, Cornell

Contact: Ken Sweeten (kfsweeten@quinnipiac.edu)