UND ranked fourth nationally after sweep of Miami

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The latest national men’s hockey polls released on Monday have set up next weekend’s North Dakota-St. Cloud State series to be a clash of two top-10 teams.

North Dakota was ranked fourth in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls, while St. Cloud State was ranked seventh in both. Defending national champion Providence topped both polls once again this week.

St. Cloud State will host UND on Friday and Saturday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. UND is coming off of a National Collegiate Hockey Conference sweep of Miami, while the Huskies picked up a conference sweep at Western Michigan.

USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll

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

1.         Providence (17)                                 6-0-3            933            1

2.         Boston College (14)                         9-1-0            926            2

3.         Quinnipiac (12)                                10-0-0            913            4

4.         North Dakota (7)                         9-1-2           891            3

5.         Massachusetts-Lowell                      8-1-2            791            5

6.         Omaha                                                8-2-0            735            6

7.         St. Cloud State                                  8-2-0            671            9

8.         Harvard                                              4-1-1            630            7

9.         Denver                                               6-3-1            593            8

10.       Boston University                             5-3-2            534          11

11.       Yale                                                    4-1-1            502          10

12.       Michigan                                            5-1-1            475          12

13.       Merrimack                                          6-1-3            395          14

14.       St. Lawrence                                      7-3-1            351          15

15.       Bowling Green                                   5-3-3            257          15

16.       Notre Dame                                       5-2-3            215          18

17.       Minnesota Duluth                              3-5-3            173          13

18.       Cornell                                               5-1-0            164         NR

19.       Michigan Tech                                    6-4-0            112          20

20.       Clarkson                                            5-3-1              56          19

Others receiving votes: Miami 50, Penn State 36, Robert Morris 25, Massachusetts 24, Rensselaer 21, Minnesota State 20, Alaska Anchorage 4, Wisconsin 2, Minnesota 1.

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll

Rk.      School (1^st 1 votes)                   Record           Pts.         PR

1.         Providence (12)                                 6-0-3            473            1

2.         Quinnipiac (12)                                10-0-0            459            3

3.         Boston College (7)                           9-1-0            455            2

4.         North Dakota (3)                         9-1-2           417            4

5.         Massachusetts-Lowell                      8-1-2            372            5

6.         Omaha                                                8-2-0            327            7

7.         St. Cloud State                                  8-2-0            290            9

8.         Harvard                                              4-1-1            263            6

9.         Denver                                               6-3-1            224          10

10.       Yale                                                    4-1-1            199            8

11.       Boston University                             5-3-2            187          11

12.       Michigan                                            5-1-1            145          12

13.       Merrimack                                          6-1-3              86         t13

14.       St. Lawrence                                      7-3-1              62          15               

15.       Notre Dame                                       5-2-3              34         NR

Others receiving votes: Cornell 29, Minnesota Duluth 19, Bowling Green 11, Massachusetts 1, Michigan Tech 1, Robert Morris 1.

Five-point weekend nets Boeser NCHC Rookie of the Week Honors

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – For the second time this season, University of North Dakota freshman forward Brock Boeser has been named National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Rookie of the Week.

Boeser (pronounced BESS-ur) scored twice, added three assists, and was a plus-5 in North Dakota’s NCHC sweep of No. 17 Miami last weekend in Grand Forks. The Burnsville, Minn., native had a goal and three assists in Friday’s 6-2 win for the first 4-point game of his collegiate career. Boeser opened the scoring with his team-leading seventh goal of the season the following night and led all players with five shots on goal in a 4-3 overtime win.

A first-round draft pick (23^rd overall) of the Vancouver Canucks in 2015, Boeser is tied for the NCHC rookie lead with seven goals and ranks second in the rookie scoring race with 12 points. He also leads all NCHC freshmen in plus/minus (plus-13) and shots on goal (42).

Boeser and fourth-ranked UND continue NCHC play next weekend at seventh-ranked St. Cloud State.

St. Cloud State forward Joey Benik was named NCHC Offensive Player of the Week, SCSU’s Ethan Prow was named NCHC Defenseman of the Week and Denver’s Evan Cowley was named NCHC Goaltender of the Week.