UND pegged fourth in USCHO preseason poll

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team, coming off of a conference championship and national semifinal appearance, was ranked No. 4 in the first USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll of the 2015-16 season that was released on Monday.

UND received one first-place vote and was topped only by top-ranked Boston College, No. 2 Minnesota Duluth and No. 3 Boston University. UND and UMD were among six National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) teams ranked among the top 20, joining No. 5 Denver, No. 10 Omaha, No. 11 Miami and No. 17 St. Cloud State.

Last season, UND went 29-10-3 (16-6-2 NCHC) on the way to its first Penrose Cup as NCHC regular-season champion and its seventh NCAA Frozen Four appearance in the last 11 years. First-year head coach Brad Berry inherits a roster that includes 16 returning letterwinners and 10 incoming freshmen.

UND will host the University of Manitoba in exhibition action on Saturday, Oct. 3. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. Central at Ralph Engelstad Arena. The team will raise its 2014-15 NCHC championship banner prior to the game.

USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll

Rk.      School (First place votes)       Record           Pts.         PR

1.         Boston College (19)                     21-14-3            907          13

2.         Minnesota Duluth (12)                  21-16-3            836            6

3.         Boston University (6)                     28-8-5            820            2

4.         North Dakota (1)                     29-10-3           766            3

5.         Denver                                           24-14-2            739            5

6.         Minnesota State (1)                        29-8-3            699            7

7.         Providence (6)                               26-13-2            642            1

8.         Harvard (1)                                    21-13-3            592          11

9.         Minnesota (1)                                23-13-3            530          12

10.       Omaha                                            20-13-6            505            4

11.       Miami (1)                                        25-14-1            461            8

12.       Yale                                                18-10-5            432          15

13.       Michigan                                        22-15-0            417          20

14.       Massachusetts-Lowell (2)            21-12-6            398          17

15.       Michigan Tech                                29-10-2            390            9

16.       Bowling Green                               23-11-5            316          18

17.       St. Cloud State                              20-19-1            236          10

18.       Quinnipiac                                      23-12-4            228          14

19.       St. Lawrence                                  20-14-3            156         NR

20.       Colgate                                          22-12-4            129          19

Others receiving votes: Robert Morris 63, Notre Dame 45, RIT 39, Michigan State 37, Northeastern 31, Vermont 23, Penn State 19, New Hampshire 18, Ferris State 11, Wisconsin 5, Bemidji State 4, Union 3, Alaska 1, Brown 1, Dartmouth 1.