NATIONAL RANKINGS (WEEKEND 3/6/09)

1.
Notre Dame
— (no change from last week's rank)
Goaltender Jordan Pearce picked up career wins 54 and 55 this weekend in the Irish's sweep of Michigan State. He's one shy of the school's record set by Lance Madson.
27-5-3 (21-4-3 CCHA)
LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan State, 5-0; W at Michigan State, 2-1.
THIS WEEK: Off

2.
Boston University
— (no change from last week's rank)
Consistent. Hot. The Terriers have just one loss in their last 23 games (18-1-4) and still aren't even in first place in their own conference, because ...
25-5-4 (16-5-4 Hockey East)
LAST WEEK: W vs. Massachusetts, 6-3; W vs. Massachusetts, 7-2.
THIS WEEK: at Providence, vs. Providence

3.
Northeastern
— (no change from last week's rank)
... the Huskies maintained their Hockey East lead with a sweep of UMass Lowell. Brad Thiessen made 56 saves on 57 shots faced. Freshman center Mike McLaughlin had a goal in each win.
22-8-4 (17-5-3 Hockey East)
LAST WEEK: W vs. UMass Lowell, 3-0; W at UMass Lowell, 3-1.
THIS WEEK: vs. Boston College, at Boston College

4.
Michigan
— (no change from last week's rank)
It's the college hockey equivalent of adding Chris Pronger at the trading deadline: Captain Mark Mitera, in his first games since injuring his knee on Oct. 10, had a goal and an assist in the Wolverines' sweep of Ferris State.
26-10-0 (20-8-0 CCHA)
LAST WEEK: W at Ferris State, 6-1; W vs. Ferris State, 4-0.
THIS WEEK: Off

5.
North Dakota
— (no change from last week's rank)
The Fighting Sioux, one point from winning the WCHA regular-season title, are 12-1-3 since Jan. 1. With their penchant for second-half success, maybe Dave Hakstol should schedule all 36 games after Christmas from here on out.
21-11-4 (16-6-4 WCHA)
LAST WEEK: T vs. Colorado College, 4-4 ot; W vs. Colorado College, 4-3 ot.
THIS WEEK: at Wisconsin, at Wisconsin

6.
Denver
— (no change from last week's rank)
Already playing without high-scoring forward Tyler Bozak, the Pioneers may have suffered another blow when forward Rhett Rakhshani, the team's second-leading scorer, was injured in Friday's win vs. St. Cloud State and missed Saturday's rematch.
16-8-3 (20-10-4 WCHA)
LAST WEEK: W vs. St. Cloud State, 3-1; L vs. St. Cloud State, 2-1 ot.
THIS WEEK: vs. Colorado College

7.
Vermont
+2 (from last week's rank)
Justin Milo has 10 goals on the season. Four of them are game-winners, including Saturday's decisive tally with 4:20 remaining at Maine.
19-8-5 (14-7-4 Hockey East)
LAST WEEK: W at Maine, 3-2; W at Maine, 2-1.
THIS WEEK: vs. New Hampshire, vs. New Hampshire

8.
Miami
— (no change from last week's rank)
Salute to round numbers: Justin Mercier's empty-net goal with 60 seconds left in Saturday's 7-5 win at Ohio State was his 10th of the season and his 100th career point in his 150th career game.
19-10-5 (17-7-4 CCHA)
LAST WEEK: L vs. Ohio State, 6-2; W at Ohio State, 7-5.
THIS WEEK: Off

9.
Yale
+1 (from last week's rank)
Yale won ECAC Hockey with 32 points, but a 3-1-0 record in the four head-to-head games against Cornell and Princeton was the difference between the top three in the ECACH standings.
20-7-2 (15-5-2 ECAC Hockey)
LAST WEEK: W vs. Cornell, 4-2; L vs. Colgate, 3-2 ot.
THIS WEEK: Off

10.
Princeton
-3 (from last week's rank)
Have no fear, Princeton fans. The Tigers lost their last two regular-season games last season too, then went on to win the ECAC Hockey playoff title.
20-9-0 (14-8-0 ECAC Hockey)
LAST WEEK: L at Dartmouth, 2-0; L at Harvard, 3-2.
THIS WEEK: Off

11.
New Hampshire
+1 (from last week's rank)
The Wildcats have taken 11 of a possible 12 points in their last six Hockey East games. Four of the five wins were by one goal, or a two-goal margin that included an empty-net goal.
18-9-5 (14-7-4 Hockey East)
LAST WEEK: W at Merrimack, 4-3; W vs. Merrimack, 1-0.
THIS WEEK: at Vermont, at Vermont

12.
Cornell
-1 (from last week's rank)
The Big Red scored two goals in the last 12 minutes of the third period on Saturday at Brown to tie the game, then got an overtime power-play goal from Blake Gallagher to beat the last-place Bears and clinch second place in the league.
18-7-4 (13-6-3 ECAC Hockey)
LAST WEEK: L at Yale, 4-2; W at Brown, 3-2 ot.
THIS WEEK: Off

13.
St. Lawrence
+4 (from last week's rank)
The Saints had not recorded a single shutout all season, but senior goalie Alex Petizian blanked both Union and Renssealer over the weekend. The last time SLU shut out back-to-back opponents? Also RPI and Union, in November of 1997.
19-11-4 (11-7-4 ECAC Hockey)
LAST WEEK: W at Union, 2-0; W at Rensselaer, 2-0.
THIS WEEK: Off

14.
Ohio State
+1 (from last week's rank)
Should the Buckeyes get past Bowling Green this weekend in the first round of the CCHA playoffs, their reward will be a trip to Fairbanks – the second in roughly six weeks – for a quarterfinal series against Alaska.
20-12-4 (13-11-4 CCHA)
LAST WEEK: W at Miami, 6-2; L vs. Miami, 7-5.
THIS WEEK: vs. Bowling Green (CCHA First Round Series)

15.
Colorado College
+1 (from last week's rank)
The Tigers played their 10th and 11th overtime contests of the season this weekend at North Dakota, but Sunday's loss to the Fighting Sioux was the first time CC ended up on the wrong side of the ledger.
16-10-9 (12-9-6 WCHA)
LAST WEEK: T at North Dakota, 4-4 ot; L at North Dakota, 4-3 ot.
THIS WEEK: at Denver

16.
Minnesota
+2 (from last week's rank)
Backup goaltender Kent Patterson made his first career start Friday against Minnesota Duluth and earned a 2-2 tie by stopping 34 of the 36 shots he faced. Starter Alex Kangas returned Saturday to make 28 saves in a 5-3 win.
14-11-7 (11-10-5 WCHA)
LAST WEEK: T vs. Minnesota Duluth, 2-2 ot; W vs. Minnesota Duluth, 5-3.
THIS WEEK: at Michigan Tech, at Michigan Tech

17.
Minnesota Duluth
-4 (from last week's rank)
He did his part: Forward MacGregor Sharp scored three goals over an 18-minute stretch of Saturday's game at Mariucci, turning a 2-0 Minnesota lead into a 3-2 Bulldog edge early in the third period before the Gophers rallied to win.
16-10-8 (10-9-7 WCHA)
LAST WEEK: T at Minnesota, 2-2 ot; L at Minnesota, 5-3.
THIS WEEK: vs. Alaska Anchorage, vs. Alaska Anchorage

18.
St. Cloud State
+1 (from last week's rank)
The Huskies have put together a little bit of a run over the last 10 games, going 6-3-1 during that span as they make a late push for a home-ice berth in the first round of the WCHA playoffs.
18-14-2 (13-12-1 WCHA)
LAST WEEK: L at Denver, 3-1; W at Denver, 2-1 ot.
THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota State, at Minnesota State

19.
Boston College
Not Ranked last week
Seven different players scored BC's nine goals on the weekend. That's the type of offensive balance that can make the Eagles dangerous. We'll see if they can keep it going against Northeastern, the nation's eighth-best defensive team.
15-12-5 (10-10-5 Hockey East)
LAST WEEK: W vs. Providence, 5-1; W at Providence, 4-3 ot.
THIS WEEK: at Northeastern, vs. Northeastern

20.
Wisconsin
-6 (from last week's rank)
How much do Badger fans hate to see games knotted at the end of regulation? In the last two seasons, Bucky has lost six overtime games, the latest coming Friday at Mankato against Minnesota State.
16-14-4 (13-10-3 WCHA)
LAST WEEK: L at Minnesota State, 4-3 ot; T at Minnesota State, 3-3 ot.
THIS WEEK: vs. North Dakota, vs. North Dakota