ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's hockey team quadrupled their votes in the USCHO.com NCAA Division III national poll after a weekend split with nationally ranked Aurora University.
All told fifteen teams are ranked in the poll, which is based on votes of members comprised of coaches, scouts and media members. Three members of the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) are currently ranked. Adrian College currently moved up to the first spot in this week's poll with 14 first place votes. Aurora dropped to tenth and St. Norbert College moved up a spot to 12th.
Trine is the only other member to receive votes. The full poll can be found on the USCHO website.
This past weekend the Thunder scored a big win against Aurora on Saturday, their first victory over a nationally-ranked opponent this season. After a Friday comeback fell short at 7-4, the team came out firing on all cylinders on Saturday taking a 4-1 lead in the second period before ultimately winning 6-3.
Freshman Bobby Price (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) and senior Hunter Payment (Monroe, Mich.) finished the contest with four points, tying for a new program single-game record. Price becomes just the second skater in program history to record a hat trick ending the game with three goals and one assist. Payment finished the game with two goals and two assists.
The team also finds itself 12th in the USCHO.com PairWise Ranking a statistical tool designed to approximate the process by which the NCAA selection committee decides which teams get at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. Although the NCAA selection committee does not use these rankings as presented by USCHO.com, the PairWise Rankings have been accurate in predicting which teams will make the tournament field.
The 12th-place seat is second highest of Northern Collegiate Hockey Association members, behind only top ranked Adrian. The Thunder have yet to play St. Norbert who is currently 14th in the rankings. The full PairWise Rankings as complied by the USCHO can be found on their website.
Trine is off for the rest of 2021, but will return to the ice when they travel to face Chatham University on Sunday, Jan. 2. The contest is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m.