Terriers move up in polls

As it turns out, one-goal wins can still count for something more than just another tick in the wins column.

Following a weekend in which it swept a pair of back-to-back conference games, the previously eighth-ranked Boston University men’s hockey team jumped three spots to fifth in the nation in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll and two spots to sixth in the USCHO.com poll released Wednesday.

The Terriers (4-0-1, 2-0-1 Hockey East) actually received a couple of first-place votes &- two in the USCHO poll and one in USA Today’s &- as well.

The fifth and sixth spots are the highest rankings BU has received since it stood at No. 5/7 before a Nov. 8 loss to University of Maine last season.

Over the weekend, BU defeated the University of Massachusetts 4-3 on the road Friday in the second of its two games in a week with the Minutemen. The earlier game had resulted in a 2-2 tie the Saturday prior. The Terriers carried the momentum from the victory into a 2-1 win over Providence College the next day at Agganis Arena.

Rounding out the top five in the USA Today poll were Miami University, Boston College, University of Minnesota-Duluth and University of Michigan, respectively. Yale University joined those four schools in beating out the Terriers in the USCHO rankings. BC, the only Hockey East team ranked higher than BU in either poll, dropped from the top of the polls after falling to No.11/13 University of Notre Dame 2-1 Saturday.

No. 6/7 University of Maine and No. 10 University of New Hampshire were the other Hockey East teams to find themselves in either poll.

On the women’s side, BU (6-1-0), who swept a weekend set of its own against St. Lawrence University and Clarkson University, remained at No. 5 in the USCHO.com poll behind University of Wisconsin, Cornell University, Minnesota-Duluth and Mercyhurst College, respectively. The USA Today poll had not been released as of press time.