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A day late due to the holiday, here are this week's SBN College Hockey Power Rankings. The Minnesota State Mavericks retained the top spot despite a loss and tie at Alaska-Fairbanks.
Rank |
Chris |
Jeff |
Nate |
Ryan |
Mary |
Josh |
SBN Rank |
| 1 | Minnesota State | North Dakota | Minnesota State | Minnesota State | Minnesota State | Minnesota State | Minnesota State (59) |
| 2 | North Dakota | Minnesota State | North Dakota | North Dakota | North Dakota | North Dakota | North Dakota(55) |
| 3 | Omaha | Omaha | Boston University | Omaha | Boston University | Omaha | Omaha (45) |
| 4 | Boston University | Boston University | Minnesota Duluth | Boston University | Omaha | Boston University | Boston University (44) |
| 5 | Michigan Tech | Michigan Tech | Omaha | Michigan Tech | Minnesota Duluth | Minnesota Duluth | Minnesota Duluth (34) |
| 6 | Minnesota Duluth | Minnesota Duluth | Michigan Tech | Minnesota Duluth | Michigan Tech | Michigan Tech | Michigan Tech(33) |
| 7 | Miami | Miami | Miami | Bowling Green | Bowling Green | Bowling Green | Bowling Green/Miami(21) |
| 8 | Bowling Green | Bowling Green | Bowling Green | Miami | Miami | Miami | |
| 9 | Quinnipiac | Quinnipiac | Quinnipiac | Quinnipiac | Quinnipiac | Quinnipiac | Quinnipiac (12) |
| 10 | Denver | Denver | Boston College | Boston College | Boston College | Boston College | Boston College (4) |
1. Minnesota State 23-6-2 (59)
A tough road trip to Fairbanks was made even tougher for Minnesota State with injury and illness running rampant through its forward lineup. The Mavericks played the second half of Friday's 1-1 tie against the Nanooks with just nine forwards, and dressed two regular defensemen with a combined 25 games played this season as their "fourth line" in Saturday's contest. The lack of depth caught up to them as they blew a third period lead and gave up a late goal in a 3-1 loss. The good news is that Minnesota State will have a week off to get healthy before facing Michigan Tech in Mankato in a series that could decide the WCHA title.
-Chris Dilks
2. North Dakota 20-6-3 (55)
A pair of third period goals from Michael Parks, who has come on strong in the second half of his senior season, lifted North Dakota to a 4-2 home win over Denver on Friday night. A major penalty in the first period of Saturday's game allowed North Dakota to jump out to a 2-0 lead, but they could not hold it as Denver scored twice in the third period to pull out a 3-3 tie. The Pioneers took the extra point in a shootout, leaving North Dakota in a three-way tie with Miami and Omaha atop the NCHC standings.
-Chris Dilks
3. Nebraska-Omaha 17-8-3 (45)
The Mavericks split their home series against Western Michigan, leaving them in a tie for first place with Miami and North Dakota atop the NCHC standings. Austin Ortega's 10th game-winning goal of the season in Saturday's 3-1 win set a new NCAA single season record.
-Jeff Cox
4. Boston University 19-5-4 (44)
The nation's longest winning streak came to an end at seven games on Saturday as the Terriers' three-goal rally in the third period came up short in a 4-3 loss at New Hampshire. Junior captain and Bruins prospect Matt Grzelcyk posted the first two-goal game of his career in the loss, a night after he scored a goal in a 6-3 home win over the Wildcats.
-Joshua Kummins
5. Minnesota Duluth 18-11-1 (34)
After winning four games in a row the Bulldogs saw their winning streak snapped with a 4-1 loss to St. Cloud State on Saturday night. Scott Sandelin's team gets back to action this weekend with a tough road trip to Oxford to face Miami. It doesn't get any easier the next weekend with a home date against Omaha.
-Jeff Cox
6. Michigan Tech 24-7-1 (33)
The Huskies breezed through a weekend trip to Anchorage, beating the Seawolves, 5-1, on Friday night, then scoring five goals in each period the first and third period for a 10-0 win on Saturday. With Minnesota State only taking a single point up the road in Fairbanks, Michigan Tech cut Minnesota State's lead in the WCHA standings to a single point. Michigan Tech is off next weekend, but travels to Mankato the week after with a chance to take back first place in the WCHA.
-Chris Dilks
7. Bowling Green 18-7-5/Miami 18-9-1 (19)
The Falcons took care of business against a tough, but offensively-challenged Ferris State team on Friday night, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the first half of the first period and never looking back en route to a 4-1 win. On Saturday, they fell behind 2-0 in the first 11 minutes of the game, and while they were able to fight back to force overtime, they gave up an overtime goal for a weekend split. The loss likely puts Bowling Green out of contention for the MacNaughton Cup, but the bigger concern in their final three weekends of the regular season is maintaining their spot in the top 10 of the Pairwise Rankings.
-Chris Dilks
Miami squeaked out two victories from Colorado College in Colorado Springs this weekend. The RedHawks won 3-1 and 2-1 and controlled the territorial advantage in each game. Not that any weekend in the NCHC is easy, but Miami finishes with Minnesota Duluth, Denver and North Dakota.
-Jeff Cox
9. Quinnipiac 20-8-2 (12)
With home wins over St. Lawrence and Clarkson this weekend, the Bobcats improved to 9-0-1 in their last 10 ECAC games and clinched a first-round bye in the upcoming league playoffs. After facing a 1-0 deficit, junior Soren Jonzzon and freshman Landon Smith each scored in the second period to lift QU to a 2-1 win over the second place Saints on Friday night. QU hosts rival Yale on Friday night at the High Point Solutions Arena.
-Joshua Kummins
10. Boston College 18-10-2 (4)
The Eagles scored eight goals on the weekend against Vermont, but it was good enough for just one win as the teams skated to a 6-5 shootout on Saturday to finish a split. Junior defenseman Teddy Doherty and sophomore forward Ryan Fitzgerald each eclipsed the 50-point mark for their careers in the victory in which BC tied its highest offensive output of the year.
-Joshua Kummins