MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- Coming off a 1-2 week in the penultimate week of regular season play the Williams men’s ice hockey team has slipped from 6th to a tie for 8th in the USCHO national poll.
The Ephs are currently in fourth place in NESCAC with an overall record of 13-5-3 and a conference ledger of 11-5-1. However the Ephs are the second highest ranked NESCAC team among the four in the USCHO poll: Middlebury (6), Williams (8), Bowdoin (12) and Amherst (13).
The Ephs are doing it with defense this winter with sophomore Ryan Purdy among the top netminders in the conference. Purdy has allowed just 38 goals in 1,053 minutes between the pipes and his save percentage of .935 is second best in NESCAC.
The Ephs are second in scoring defense and penalty killing among NESCAC teams. The Ephs have allowed just 2.19 goals a game, while successfully killing off 87.5% opposing power play opportunities.
Leading the Eph attack are senior center and captain Alex Smigelski and junior Connor Olvany. Smigelski has accrued 25 points on the year with 16 goals and 9 assists and Olvany has contributed 9 goals and 11 assists for 20 points.
The Ephs will close out the regular season
this weekend on the road at Castleton State on Friday night and at
Skidmore on Saturday afternoon.
USCHO.com Division III Men's Poll
Minneapolis, Minn./February 15, 2010
Team (First
Place) Record Pts Last Week
1
Oswego
(20) 22-1-0 300 1
2
Norwich
18-1-4 276 2
3 St.
Norbert
19-3-3 263 3
4
Plattsburgh
16-4-4 232 5
5 St.
Scholastica
17-4-4 221 4
6
Middlebury
14-4-4 190 9
7 Gustavus Adolphus
16-5-2 164 7
8
Hamline
15-5-3 128 10
8
Williams
13-5-3 128 6
10
Elmira
16-6-1 100 8
11
Adrian
20-3-0 98 12
12
Bowdoin
15-5-1 93 15
13
Amherst
15-4-3 84 11
14
Manhattanville
17-5-1 53 NR
15 Wis.-River
Falls
15-8-2 32 14
Others Receiving Votes: Neumann 18, Fredonia 11,
Wentworth 5, Marian 2, Augsburg 1, Hobart 1
