MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Oswego Lakers are the top team in Division III college hockey.
A week after splitting the vote with SUNYAC nemesis Plattsburgh, Oswego wrested control of the nation’s No. 1 ranking after hammering Brockport, 10-1, and doubling up Geneseo, 4-2. They received 12 of 20 first place votes.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, skated to a 3-3 tie with Potsdam and fell to second, 20 points — and seven top tallies — behind the Lakers.
Undefeated Norwich, fresh off back-to-back blankings of Amherst and Hamilton, rose two spots despite garnering one less first place vote than last week. In just three polls, they have gone from unranked to third in the country — a remarkable ascendance for the 5-0-1 Cadets.
Speaking of unblemished, the Adrian Bulldogs completed another ho-hum weekend: outscoring their opponent — Concordia (WI) — 19-2 to improve to 10-0 on the year. Though remaining in fourth, they received only two top tallies, one fewer than last week.
After splitting with seventh ranked St. Scholastica on home ice, St. Norbert dropped two spots to fifth. Sandwiched between the Saints and the Green Knights, the Soaring Eagles from Elmira are still No. 6 nationally.
Middlebury College remained in eighth after tying with Southern Maine and shutting out the Nor’easters from the University of New England, 5-0. The University of Wisconsin-River Falls moved up one spot to ninth after besting Bethel and St. Mary’s by a combined score of 12-2.
The Bowdoin Polar Bears — rivals with the Nor’easters for best D-III mascot — continued their winning ways by blanking Skidmore, 1-0, and blasting Castleton, 7-1. Tenth in the country, they are now 5-0 on the season.
Continuing the trend of non-traditional national powers rising up the rankings, the Curry Colonels — 7-0-1 in the nascent campaign — ascend one spot to No. 11.
Ninth in last week’s poll, the UW-Superior Yellowjackets split with in-state rival Stevens Point, landing at No. 12.
The MIAC’s Hamline Pipers acquitted themselves well last weekend in taking three points in a home-and-home series with conference foe St. Olaf. They rose two spots to No. 13.
Rounding out the top 15 were newcomers Williams and Salem State, a combined 10-1-2 on the season.
A mirror image of Norwich’s ascendancy has been Manhattanville’s precipitous fall from grace. Two weeks ago, the Valiants were ranked fourth in the country. But after losses to Elmira and Hobart, they didn’t even receive any votes from the pollsters.
Amherst also fell out of the top 15 teams.