What’s old is new again in the latest edition of New England Hockey Journal’s Division 1 men’s college power rankings.
Plenty of action over the last two weeks has prompted some changes to the top 10, including a new champion in the Beanpot Tournament that continues to rise up the Hockey East and national ranks following a midseason slide.
The new No. 1 team is certainly not new to the position this season, though two clubs have climbed into the fold as compared to the previous installment.
Here are New England Hockey Journal’s latest New England college hockey power rankings:
1. Quinnipiac (26-3-3, 18-2-0 ECAC)
Saturday’s 5-2 win over Brown lifted the Bobcats to their third consecutive Cleary Cup (and fourth in five years) as the ECAC Hockey regular-season champions. The weekend began with a 5-1 Friday win over Yale. Collin Graf (Lincoln, Mass.) finished with three points in each game and now has a team-high 47, the most by a sophomore in program history. All three of his points against Brown were assists, including one to senior Skyler Brind’Amour, who also reached the three-point mark with a goal and two assists. Freshman Sam Lipkin tallied twice in each game to eclipse the 10-goal mark.
The Bobcats have won eight consecutive games after sophomore Yaniv Perets pitched back-to-back shutouts a weekend earlier at Clarkson and St. Lawrence, the 18th and 19th of his career.
Previous ranking: 2
2. Harvard (19-6-2, 16-4-0 ECAC)
The Crimson rounded out their regular-season home slate and clinched a bye to the ECAC Hockey quarterfinal round for the fifth time in six years following victories over Union and RPI, 5-3 and 4-0, respectively. On Saturday, senior Mitchell Gibson pitched a 20-save shutout and junior Sean Farrell (Hopkinton, Mass.) scored two goals and added an assist. Sophomore Matthew Coronato added to his ECAC-leading goal total with his 19th. Gibson was busier in the first game of the weekend making 26 saves, while Baker Shore had a goal and an assist and John Farinacci dished out a pair of helpers. The game against Union was Shore’s first multi-point effort of the season.
Previous ranking: 3Â
3. Boston University (20-10-0, 14-6-0 HEA)
The Terriers had not lost back-to-back games all season before falling 4-2 in last Monday’s Beanpot consolation game against Boston College, but their skid continued as Hockey East play resumed with 4-1 and 4-3 (OT) losses to Merrimack. On Saturday, senior Matt Brown scored his team-leading 14th goal and became the first 40-point scorer in the conference this season. Brown is the first BU skater to reach that plateau since defenseman David Farrance in 2019-20. Freshmen Lane Hutson and Jeremy Wilmer each had two points in the second loss to Merrimack, which was BU’s first this season when it led after two periods. BU has finished at the bottom of the Beanpot table just eight times, but five of those eight have come since 2011.
Previous ranking: 1Â
4. Northeastern (15-10-5, 12-5-3 HEA)
Following their fourth Beanpot victory in five seasons last Monday against Harvard, the Huskies made the long Saturday trek to Vermont and emerged with a 3-0 shutout behind junior Devon Levi’s 42-save effort. Levi’s .933 save percentage is second nationally. Sophomore Matt Choupani has scored three goals in three games dating back to his two-goal effort in the Huskies’ Feb. 10 overtime win at Providence in which they rallied back from a 3-0 deficit. The game-winner in Vermont belonged to senior Riley Hughes (Westwood, Mass.). Levi was named the Beanpot Most Valuable Player, but senior captain Aidan McDonough (Milton, Mass.) scored the shootout winner that brought the trophy back to Huntington Avenue after a year away.
STAYING IN SCHOOL: How Aidan McDonough's big decision is paying off for Northeastern
Previous ranking: 5Â
5. Merrimack (18-12-1, 13-8-0 HEA)
The Warriors broke out of a three-game losing streak in a big way, taking five points out of a home-and-home set with Boston University to move within two points of first place. While graduate senior Mick Messner scored twice and added an assist to linemate Jordan Seyfert, junior Zachary Borgiel ultimately backstopped the 4-1 Friday win by making 16 of his 38 saves in the third period and improving to 10-4-1. Messner and sophomore Matt Copponi (Mansfield, Mass.) scored in both games, while sophomore Alex Jefferies (Lunenberg, Mass.) had three assists across the weekend, including the primary feed to senior captain Ben Brar for his second goal of the game and third overtime winner of the season on Saturday. Brar scored 1:26 into the third period and with 0.1 seconds left in overtime.
https://twitter.com/MerrimackMIH/status/1627141175764258816?s=20
Previous ranking: 6Â
6. Connecticut (17-10-3, 11-8-2 HEA)
The Huskies had this past weekend off after previously being swept by New Hampshire, losing the latter game in overtime. Junior Hudson Schandor and senior Justin Pearson (Nashua, N.H.) each scored and had an assist against the surging Wildcats. UConn has now dropped three of its last four games, but still holds the fifth-place position in the Hockey East standings that would be good enough for the final first-round playoff bye.
Previous ranking: 4Â
7. UMass Lowell (16-11-3, 10-7-3 HEA)
The River Hawks picked up a huge four points over Providence to maintain a sole hold of fourth place in Hockey East, taking the series thanks to Saturday’s 2-1 home win. Sophomore Owen Cole and junior Brehdan Engum scored in each of the first two periods as grad senior Gustavs Davis Grigals made 22 saves to lift Lowell to its first regulation win since Jan. 27 against UMass. Filip Fornåå Svensson finished the set with two points as he also scored a goal during Friday’s 3-2 overtime loss in Rhode Island. Graduate defenseman Jon McDonald had two of his three assists on Friday.
Previous ranking: 7Â
8. Providence (14-11-7, 9-7-6 HEA)
Providence continues to battle in close games and found itself splitting decisions in two more this weekend against UMass Lowell. Junior Chase Yoder’s goal at 3:39 of extra time was the difference in a 3-2 Friday win for the Friars. Senior Parker Ford (Wakefield, R.I.) logged his team-leading 11th goal and added an assist on Friday. The lone Saturday goal belonged to freshman Bennett Schimek, his 10th of the year. Freshman Philip Svedebäck made both starts, stopping 31 of the 33 shots he faced to earn the series-opening victory. The Friars now have a week off before closing the season against BU in a home-and-home pair.
Previous ranking: 8Â
9. Boston College (12-12-6, 7-8-5 HEA)
The Eagles ended their eight-game winless streak in convincing fashion, topping BU last Monday in the Beanpot before posting a home-and-home sweep of a UMass team that they have defeated in nine of the last 10 meetings. Senior Trevor Kuntar’s two-goal night included the game-winner early in the third period before sophomore Connor Joyce (Dedham, Mass.) added an insurance marker. Friday’s 7-3 home win featured an offensive explosion out of the gate as BC scored five times in the first period and junior Nikita Nesterenko lit the lamp in each frame to complete his first career hat trick. Nesterenko and freshman linemate Oskar Jellvik combined for seven points in the game. Senior Mitch Benson, who started his 100th game Friday, stopped 29 and 24 shots in the victories.
THE WIN: Takeaways from Northeastern's Beanpot win over Harvard
Previous ranking: NRÂ
10. New Hampshire (11-18-3, 6-13-3 HEA)
Maine has two games in hand to add to its three-point advantage over archrival UNH in the Hockey East standings, but the Wildcats gained four out of six in the Border Battle series to remain undefeated (4-0-2) since Jan. 21. Coach Mike Souza’s team has won twice in overtime during that span, while freshman Stiven Sardarian and senior Chase Stevenson scored the only shootout goals in the victories against Maine this weekend. Saturday’s result was a scoreless tie in which freshman Tyler Muszelik made 29 saves for his first collegiate shutout. Stevenson scored the tying goal with 2:09 left in regulation and senior David Fessenden logged 26 saves in Friday’s 2-2 draw.
The Wildcats’ top scorers are a pair of locals in freshman Cy LeClerc (Brentwood, N.H.) and sophomore Liam Devlin (Needham, Mass.) with 13 goals and 22 points, respectively.
Previous ranking: NRÂ
