Men's Hockey Earns No. 5 Ranking in National Polls

The Harvard men’s ice hockey team will enter exam week ranked No. 5 in the national polls.

The latest editions of both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls, released on Monday, rank the Crimson fifth. Harvard (9-1-2, 5-1-2 ECAC) received six out of 50 first-place votes in the USCHO.com poll and four out of 34 first-place votes in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.

The Crimson’s ranking in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll is the team’s highest recorded in the U.S. College Hockey Organization's online archive, which dates back to October 1997. After wins over Princeton and No. 15/15 Quinnipiac this weekend, Harvard is off to its fastest start since the 1992-1993 season, when the program went 14-1-1 through Feb. 1.

In each poll, Harvard received more first-place votes than any other squad save No. 1 University of North Dakota. The Crimson maintained all of the first-place votes that it had received last week, when the team vaulted into the national top 10 after wins at then-No. 1 Boston University and then-No. 4 UMass-Lowell, yet did not pick up any more.

The order of the top five is the same in each poll. Harvard trails No. 1 UND, No. 2. BU, No. 3 Minnesota State, and No. 4 Michigan Tech.

Harvard has been perfect so far in nonconference play. A 6-3 win at then-No. 8 Boston College on Nov. 11 was the first of the team’s three victories over Hockey East teams that month.

Only Yale has defeated the Crimson so far this season. The Bulldogs picked up a 2-1 win at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center on Nov. 15. The teams will next face each other in the Rivalry On Ice game at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 10.

After the exam week and holiday recess, the Crimson will return to the ice for an exhibition game against the Russian Red Stars on Dec. 28 before hosting conference rival Rensselaer on Dec. 30.