College Hockey Rankings: Minnesota Golden Gophers Fail to Falter

A handful of tremendous games took place this past weekend, but Minnesota's "border-battle" sweep of Wisconsin allowed the Golden Gophers to reclaim all 50 first-place points.

With the exception of the amount of points accumulated, the top four teams all remained neutral this week. Ferris State and Quinnipiac switched spots from last weekend, Boston College and Miami fell out, and Clarkson, Lake Superior and Northeastern all found their way back into SBN College Hockey's weekly power rankings.

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Ranking	Chris Dilks	Jeff Cox	Nate Wells	Matt Christians	Evan Sporer	SBN FINAL RANK
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1. Minnesota 11-2-1 (50)

The Golden Gophers rebounded from a 6-2 loss last Sunday to sweep Wisconsin at home in the Big Ten conference opener for both. Minnesota won 4-1 on friday before coming back Saturday for a 4-3 victory against the Badgers. Seth Ambroz (Columbus Blue Jackets) scored 4 goals in 2 games, including the game-winning goal Saturday with 26 seconds left. The Gophers end the first half by traveling to East Lansing next weekend against Michigan State for its first-ever B1G road series.

- Nate Wells

2. Providence 11-2-2 (43)

Providence played a tough series against Quinnipiac to begin this weeks action for the Friars and they were tested to say the least. In what ended up in a 3-3 tie, Jon Gillies truly stood on his head by stopping 20 shots in the third period alone. Gillies finished off the day with 45 saves. On Saturday, the Friars narrowly defeated Brown 3-2, taking home their second consecutive Mayor's Cup.

- Matt Christians

3. St. Cloud State 9-1-2 (41)

St. Cloud got to enjoy their turkey last weekend with no games of the schedule. Next weekend, they'll travel to NCHC intra-state rival Minnesota-Duluth, in a series that always seems to produce entertaining games.

- Chris Dilks

4. Michigan 9-2-1 (34)

The Wolverines outplayed rival Ohio State on Friday night in their inaugural Big Ten conference game, but could not put the pesky Buckeyes away in regulation. Andrew Copp scored a pretty breakaway goal in overtime to earn the victory and all three league points for the Wolverines. Michigan and Ohio State will travel to Columbus and conclude their series on Monday evening in a game that can be seen on the Big Ten Network.

- Chris Dilks

5. Quinnipiac 13-2-2 (30)

The Bobcats tied Providence 3-3 in a battle of top-five teams Wednesday before routing Massachusetts 6-1 Saturday. Quinnipiac peppered Friars goaltender Jon Gillies with 48 shots. That offensive output paid off against UMass as six different players scored. Quinnipiac plays RPI and Union on the road this weekend in ECAC action.

- Chris Dilks

6. Ferris State 11-2-2 (26)

The Bulldogs defeated Northern Michigan 4-1 on Friday night, and played to a hard-fought 1-1 draw on Saturday to remain undefeated in WCHA play this year. The Bulldogs lack a flashy, marquee win, but their run through the WCHA has been incredibly impressive so far. The Bulldogs are facing an upcoming series at upstart Lake Superior next weekend that has suddenly become more important than anyone could have imagined prior to the season.

- Chris Dilks

7. UMass-Lowell 10-4-0 (21)

The Massachusetts-Lowell Riverhawks joined the St. Cloud State Huskies at the dinner table for Thanksgiving, or in other words had the weekend off. They host American International on Tuesday and travel to Maine on Sunday to resume action.

- Matt Christians

8. Union 8-3-2 (12)

The Dutchmen earned a series sweep over Penn State this past weekend, defeating the Nittany Lions 4-3 on Saturday and 5-4 on Sunday. Shayne Gostisbehere scored two power play goals on Sunday, which were two of 6 special teams goals during the game, and tallied an assist on Saturday as well. Penn State's Eamon McAdam saw 43 shots on Sunday, a nine shot increase than Matthew Skoff saw the night before. Union hosts Princeton this Friday and Quinnipiac this Saturday.

- Matt Christians

9. Clarkson 10-3-1 (6)

Clarkson squared off in an exhibition game against Queens, conquering their opponent 6-2. Jeff DiNallo scored twice for the Golden Knights, while netminder Nille Runola made 15 saves in the victory. The Knights play a home and home series against St. Lawrence this weekend.

- Matt Christians

t10. Lake Superior State 9-4-1 (3)

The Lakers gritted out a pair of 4-3 wins against conference foe Bowling Green over the weekend to make a strong move up the WCHA standings, and run their overall record to an impressive 9-4-1. The Lakers are led by freshman phenom Alex Globke, whose scoring line ranks fourth among freshmen in the NCAA this year.

- Chris Dilks

t10. Northeastern 7-6-1 (3)

The Huskies traveled to Notre Dame this weekend for the Shillelagh Tournament, and took down the host Irish in the finals to capture Northeastern’s first-ever tournament title in the month of November. In their opening game, Northeastern played to a 1-1 tie through overtime with Western Michigan, before taking down the Broncos in a shootout, although the game will go down officially as a tie. In the tournament finals, the Huskies got their first crack of the year at new Hockey East rival Notre Dame, and despite going down 2-0, the Huskies clawed back and scored three goals in the second of the game for the win in South Bend. In what was a true home game for Notre Dame, the Huskies got contributions from their top guns, with Kevin Roy assisting on two goals, and Clay Witt turning away 31 of 33 shots. Both Braden Pimm and Witt were named to the all-tournament team, while Witt certainly had a good argument for MVP, posting a .953 save percentage on the weekend, a 1.44 goals against average, and turning away all Broncos in Friday night’s shootout. The win, Northeastern’s ninth of the season, matches their total from all of last season.

- Evan Sporer

Friendship Awards

Miami (2 points), Yale (2 points), Boston College (1 point), Notre Dame (1 point)

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