NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – A weekend sweep over Mercyhurst was enough to bump the Niagara hockey team to the No. 13 position in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine national poll released Monday.
The Purple Eagles (21-6-5; 20-3-2 AHA) received 107 votes to earn the No. 13 ranking for the first time since the 1999-00 season. The Purps have been on the top-15 poll for four consecutive weeks now, the longest the team has been ranked in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine in program history.
Niagara received 335 points in the USCHO.com Poll jumping up two spots from last week to No. 14. The Purps also crawled up the PairWise Rankings to the eighth spot—the team’s highest position so far this year. This ranking system helps determine the NCAA field of 16, meaning the team is on track for an at-large bid if they were not to capture the conference tournament. The field will be announced on March 24.
Niagara travels to Colorado Springs, Colo. on Friday-Saturday, March 1-2 to take on the Air Force Falcons in a two-game series at the Cadet Ice Arena. Both contests will begin at 9:05 p.m. eastern.
