HAMDEN, Conn. -- Quinnipiac continues its trend upward as the Bobcats are ranked No. 7 nationally in the USCHO.com poll, their highest ranking in program history.
After sticking in the No. 9 spot for consecutive weeks, the Bobcats jumped up 27 points all the way to 55 in the weekly voting announced on Monday. The Bobcats have started the season with their best record in program history (7-1-2).
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Quinnipiac moved up the most of any team in the nation from last week as they passed ECAC Hockey foe Harvard, who slipped to No. 8 in the rankings. Top-ranked Minnesota maintained its ranking with a weekend sweep at Minnesota State-Mankato to move its NCAA-record winning streak up to 59 games. Second-ranked Wisconsin, No. 3 Cornell and No. 4 North Dakota stood their ground in the poll while No. 5 Boston College leapt No. 6 Clarkson. The Crimson fell to No. 8 after falling to Rensselaer on Friday while No. 9 Mercyhurst and No. 10 Boston University round out the top 10.
The move up in the rankings for the Bobcats comes off the heels of an undefeated weekend in which they shutout Colgate 6-0 on Friday and tied the No. 3 Big Red 1-1 on Saturday. Each member of the Bobcats' top offensive line lit the lamp once while a pair of sophomore defenders each scored their first career goal. Cydney Roesler and Kristen Tamberg waited 44 games before finally breaking through as each tallied a goal in the third period. Meanwhile, the top offensive line of senior Kelly Babstock, sophomore Nicole Connery and freshman Emma Woods combined for nine points (three goals, six assists) against Colgate.
In the weekend finale against No. 3 Cornell, the Bobcats used a short-handed tally from junior Shiann Darkangelo and 26 saves from junior goalie Chelsea Laden to preserve a 1-1 tie. Darkangelo's goal on the penalty kill in the second period was her first shorthanded goal in 28 career tallies. Laden allowed just one goal and it was on a penalty shot from Emily Fulton with eight minutes remaining. The Bobcat defense limited the nation's highest-scoring offense to just that one penalty-shot goal through 65 minutes of action.
