POSTED: Monday March 28th 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

University of North Dakota Retains No. 1 Ranking in USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The University of North Dakota, which last weekend defeated No. 15 Rensselaer and No. 7 University of Denver in the NCAA Midwest Regional, enters its 20th NCAA Men's Frozen Four as the No. 1 team in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll. North Dakota, which improved to 32-8-3 overall, collected 510 points and all 34 first-place votes to earn the top spot for the sixth week in a row.

The University of Michigan (462) advances four places to No. 2 after defeating No. 14 University of Nebraska Omaha and No. 11 Colorado College in the NCAA West Regional en route to its 24th Frozen Four berth. The University of Minnesota Duluth (418), which emerged from the NCAA East Regional with wins over No. 12 Union College and No. 6 Yale University and clinched its fourth trip to the Frozen Four, moves up nine spots to No. 3. The University of Notre Dame (394) secures the No. 4 spot after defeating No. 10 Merrimack College and No. 9 University of New Hampshire to win the NCAA Northeast Regional and advance to its second-ever Frozen Four. Boston College (378) rounds out the top five after falling to Colorado College in the NCAA West Regional semifinal.

The NCAA Men's Frozen Four begins on April 7 in St. Paul, Minn., with No. 1 North Dakota facing off against No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 Minnesota Duluth facing No. 4 Notre Dame. The winners of the two semifinal match-ups will play on April 9 for the NCAA championship.

NOTES: The USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll will take a one-week hiatus before the last poll of the season is released on April 11 following the Frozen Four ... The Western Collegiate Hockey Association leads all conferences with five ranked programs, while the Central Collegiate Hockey Association boasts four ranked programs and Hockey East and ECAC Hockey each have three ... A total of 19 teams received votes.

ABOUT THE POLL: The 16th annual USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll is conducted each week in conjunction with the American Hockey Coaches Association. The poll includes input from coaches and journalists representing each of the five NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences, as well as composite votes from officers of the AHCA and USA Hockey Magazine, the most widely distributed hockey magazine in the world.

2011 NCAA Men's Frozen Four

Thursday, April 7
No. 1 University of North Dakota
vs
No. 2 University of Michigan

No. 3 University of Minnesota Duluth
vs
No. 4 University of Notre Dame

Saturday, April 9
NCAA Championship Game

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Keywords · NCAA Hockey · Frozen Four · University of North Dakota · University of Michigan · Minnesota Duluth · Notre Dame

Name: Caryn Switaj
Organization: USA Hockey
Email:
Phone: 17195381172
URL: www.usahockey.com

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