Last weekend we had a full slate of top twenty matchups, and for the most part, they came out with splits, ties, and some minor movement of teams in the top twenty.  Up front this week, let’s showcase two of them that caused a whole lot of shakin’ in the top twenty.  First, last week’s #5 Minnesota played two against last week’s #15 North Dakota.  Minnesota swept the weekend, shutting out North Dakota Friday night, and jumping to #1 in the rankings; the loss was yet another in a recent slide by North Dakota, which now finds itself down at #20.  On the weekend, the player pictured here, Nick Bjugstad, scored a goal in each game.  He is from Blaine, MN., which, I am told, is not far from Minneapolis and its surrounding suburbs of St. Paul, Eagan, and Bloomington.  Interstingly, Bjugstad’s high school, Blaine High, wears hocky uniforms in the exact same color scheme as the University of Maine, and at a glance, they look like Maine, with the scripted “Blaine” on their chests, as Maine has “Maine” on theirs.  Next up, a great weekend series for last week’s #8 Denver, and last week’s #14, Minnesota-Duluth — the teams tied Friday night, but Minnesota-Duluth was on fire on Saturday night and shut out Denver by a 4-0 margin.  Minnesota-Duluth jumped up to #10 in the rankings, and Denver added to a recent string of losses, dropping down to the #12 spot in the rankings.

Boston College split with Maine; on the split, BC dropped from #1 to #2, and on splitting with the #1 team in the country, Maine . . . dropped out of the top twenty.  Brutal!  Last week’s #2 Colorado College split with Nebraska-Omaha, and CC dropped to #3 in the rankings.  And another great matchup last weekend — #3 Michigan vs. #4 Western Michigan — yielded a split, with the first game a close win for Western Michigan, and the second game a solid win for Michigan; Michigan is now ranked #4 and Western Michigan is now ranked #5.

Last week’s #7 Merrimack earned a tie and a win against Northeastern, and Merrimack is now ranked #6.  Last week’s #6 Notre Dame faced last week’s #17 Northern Michigan, and the two teams fought to two ties, dropping Notre Dame to #7, and elevating Northern Michigan to #14.  Last week’s #10 Ferris State swept Bowling Green, and Ferris State rose up to #8 in the rankings, while last week’s #13 Union College earned two wins against St. Lawrence and Clarkson, sending Union up to #9 in the rankings. 

Last week’s #11 Lake Superior State earned a win against Bemidji State, and remained at #11.  Last week’s #9 Yale took a loss at the hands of Cornell, then earned a win against last week’s #18 Colgate; the split weekend dropped Yale down to #13, while Colgate also had a split weekend, leaving them ranked at #18.  Last week’s #16 Michigan Tech split with Mankato, lifting Michigan Tech to #15.    Last week’s #12 Boston University was slammed over the weekend, dropping to #16.  Previously unranked Dartmouth earned two wins over the weekend to enter the top twenty at #17, and on a split weekend, Quinnipiac remained ranked at #19.  This weekend there are several top twenty matchups.  Friday night #6 Merrimack will play one at #16 Boston University, and to round out the Terrier’s weekend, they’ll face their historical nemesis, #2 Boston College on Sunday at BC.  #8 Ferris State will host #11 Ferris State for two games, #9 Union College hosts #13 Yale for one game, and #17 Dartmouth hosts #18 Colgate for one game as well.  This provides the top twenty teams, rankings, records, and last weekend’s results:

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That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers!

 — Tom