The Oswego State men’s ice hockey team had the weekend off for Thanksgiving Break following hard-fought victories at SUNY Fredonia and Buffalo State to remain atop the SUNYAC standings, sitting one point in front of SUNY Plattsburgh. The two teams will meet on Friday night in Plattsburgh with the conference lead on the line. Despite not playing, the Lakers continue to garner the No. 2 spot in the USCHO.com Men’s Hockey Poll for the third consecutive week. Oswego State received a total of 270 points, but did not receive any first place votes for the second straight week. The Lakers are currently 7-1-1 overall and 5-0-1 in conference play.

Norwich remained the top-ranked team in Division III for another week after winning the Primelink Tournament, the Cadets’ annual tournament held in Northfield, Vt. Norwich defeated Plattsburgh, 3-0, in the opening round of the tournament and then defeated Elmira College, 5-2, in the championship game. The Primelink Tournament, arguably the toughest tournament in Division III, boasted four ranked teams. This year’s tournament featured No. 1 Norwich, No. 6 Plattsburgh, N0. 7 Elmira and No. 11 Middlebury. The Cadets face No. 3 Castleton on Friday, Dec. 3 in a match up of two top-ranked teams. Castleton and Norwich are the last two teams with an unblemished record. The Spartans are 9-0-0 overall and 6-0-0 in the ECAC East. Castleton won the Rutland Invitational, defeating Becker, 10-0, and Morrisville State College, 4-3, in the championship game. Two teams from Wisconsin round out the top five, as Wisconsin-River Falls moved up one spot to No. 4 and St. Norbert moved up two spots to No. 5.

Plattsburgh remained at No. 6 for a second straight week despite going 0-1-1 in the Primelink Tournament, failing to score a goal against top-ranked Norwich and Middlebury. Elmira made the biggest leap of the week, moving up three spots to No. 7. The Soaring Eagles were also featured in the Primelink Tournament, defeating Middlebury in the opening round before losing to Norwich in the championship game. Utica College moved up one spot to No. 8 with the weekend off. Adrian fell the furthest in this week’s poll, falling five spots to No. 9. The Bulldogs lost both games of their annual tournament against Wisconsin-Eau Claire and St. Thomas over the weekend. Wisconsin-Superior moved up two spots to No. 10.

Middlebury remained at No. 11 after an 0-1-1 showing at the Primelink Tournament. Milwaukee School of Engineering fell four spots to No. 12 after splitting a two-game series with St. Mary’s. It was St. Mary’s first win of the season. Neumann College moved up one spot to No. 13 after sweeping SUNY Cortland in a two-game series at Cortland. St. Thomas dropped a spot to No. 14 and Wisconsin Eau-Claire moved into the top 15 at No. 15 after winning the Adrian Tournament over Buffalo State, 3-1.

USCHO.com Division III Men’s Poll (First Place Votes) 11/28/11

1. Norwich (18)

2. Oswego State

3. Castleton (2)

4. Wisconsin-River Falls

5. St. Norbert

6. Plattsburgh

7. Elmira

8. Utica

9. Adrian

10. Wisconsin-Superior

11. Middlebury

12. Milwaukee School of Engineering

13. Neumann

14. St. Thomas

15. Wisconsin-Eau Claire