USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine National Poll

USCHO.com National Poll

HAMILTON, N.Y. (12/13/11) - After skating to a 1-1 deadlock with fifth-ranked Merrimack, the Colgate men's hockey team jumped into the top-10 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine National Poll.

The Raiders are ranked 10th in the nation in the poll and are the highest ranked team in ECAC Hockey after Union slipped to No. 12. Colgate earned 190 points in the poll and is in the top-10 for the first time since 2005, when the Raiders were ranked eighth in the USCHO.com National Poll. Colgate was ranked most of 2005-06, but never cracked the top-10.

In the USCHO.com National Poll, the Raiders stayed put at No. 12 and have been ranked for nine-straight weeks in that poll. Three other ECAC Hockey teams are in the poll with Union at No. 11 and Cornell at No. 13. Yale dropped to No. 19 in the country.

Colgate is one of only two ECAC Hockey teams with double-digit wins this season at 11-4-2 and goes into a three-week break in second place in the conference with a 6-2-0 mark and 12 points in the standings. The Raiders own the third-longest unbeaten streak in the nation with six-straight games without a loss. Colgate is in the top-15 nationally in scoring offense and defense. The Raiders are 15th in scoring, as they are averaging 3.29 goals per game, and are ninth in defense, allowing just over two goals a game. Austin Smith continues to be a top player in the nation with 18 goals, which leads the country, and his 1.65 points per game is tops in the nation.

Colgate is on a break for finals and the holidays. The Raiders will be back on Dec. 30 at Starr Rink to take on Canisius.