Top 5! Boston College Men’s Hockey Jumps to #4 in National Rankings

On Monday afternoon, USCHO released their weekly top-20 poll of men’s D1 hockey. Boston College found themselves jumping from 6th place to 4th place after they defeated reigning national champions Quinnipiac this weekend, 2-1 in overtime. BC is even receiving two first-place votes in the poll, indicating that voters see them as one of the very best teams in the nation.

Quinnipiac was ranked #2 in the nation when the two teams faced off on Saturday, and they looked very good against BC. But the Eagles’ freshman goaltender Jacob Fowler stepped up big and only let QU score one goal on 30 shots, including completely shutting them out for the entire OT period. Cutter Gauthier was finally able to get one through as time winded down, giving BC a huge win to start the season. Quinnipiac is expected to be a dominant force in the ECAC this season, so this road win against the Bobcats is certain to have some positive effects for Boston College’s pairwise rankings down the line.

Other notable results in the poll include Denver at #3, also receiving first-place votes, and Michigan State at #8. Both of those teams will be traveling to Conte Forum in the month of October, so this young team is going to be tested against more tough competition very quickly. And of course Boston University finds themselves at the top of the national poll, despite the fact that Bentley was able to take them to overtime this weekend. Boo.

You can find the full poll results here.