TORONTO (U SPORTS) – The reigning U SPORTS champion UNB Varsity Reds (men) and Alberta Pandas (women) are the top hockey teams in the nation to begin the 2017-18 season.
UNB (2-0-0), which led the Top 10 rankings from Week 2 on last season, captured its second straight national banner in March with a 5-3 victory on home ice over Saskatchewan, who starts the year ranked No.3. Third-year forward Stephen Anderson led the way with five goals in the first two games, including a hat-trick last Wednesday as the Varsity Reds kicked off their title defence with a 6-2 victory over Moncton at home, before defeating UPEI 5-3 on the road Friday. They'll play the same two teams this Wednesday and Saturday.
On the women's side, Alberta (1-0-1) claimed its first No.1 ranking in 10 years, dating back to the first four polls of the 2007-08 season (Oct.9-30, 2007). The Pandas claimed their eighth national title last season thanks to a dramatic 2-1 double-overtime win over McGill. Alberta began its campaign splitting a home-and-home series against Mount Royal - recording a dominant 4-0 win over the Cougars Friday, followed by 2-1 shootout loss Saturday. This weekend, they'll visit the No.8 Manitoba Bisons for a weekend series.
In other U SPORTS rankings, Laval (men's cross country and women's soccer), Queen's (women's cross country), Montreal (men's soccer) and StFX (women's rugby) all remain national leaders for another week.
U SPORTS TOP 10 Tuesday Rankings – Oct. 10, 2017
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Points / (Previous Ranking)
1. Laval 98 pts / (1)
2. Guelph 85 pts / (3)
3. Trinity Western 83 pts / (2)
4. McMaster 58 pts / (4)
5. Queen's 53 pts / (5)
6. Western 51 pts / (6)
7. Victoria 35 pts / T7
T8.Windsor 28 pts / (9)
T8. Calgary 28 pts / (T7)
10. Dalhousie 15 pts (T10)
Other teams receiving votes: Toronto (7), Alberta (5), McGill (4), StFX (4), Waterloo (1), UNB (1), Regina (1)
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Points / (Previous Ranking)
1. Queen's 96 pts / (1)
2. Guelph 81 pts / (2)
3. Toronto 80 pts / (3)
T4. Trinity Western 63 pts / (4)
T4. Laval 63 pts / (T5)
6. Western 39 pts / (T5)
7. Calgary 34 pts / (9)
8. McGill 32 pts / (8)
9. Victoria 26 pts / (T5)
10. McMaster 13 pts / (NR)
Other teams receiving votes: Dalhousie (9), Alberta (7), Laurentian (6), StFX (3), Acadia (2), Waterloo (1), Montreal (1), Windsor (1), Saskatchewan (1)
FRC – U SPORTS FOOTBALL TOP 10 (#7)
Pts (1st place) Last week
1. Montreal (4-0) 140 (8) 1
2. Calgary (5-0) 135 (6) 2
3. Laval (5-1) 122 (1) 3
4. Western (7-0) 113 4
5. Laurier (5-1) 89 5
6. McMaster (5-1) 67 6
7. UBC (3-2) 59 7
8. Regina (3-2) 44 8
9. Saint Mary's (4-1) 32 9
10. Guelph (3-3) 11 10
Other teams receiving votes: Ottawa (10), Concordia (2), Saskatchewan (1).
MEN'S HOCKEY
(Regular season record) / Points / (Previous Ranking)
1. UNB (2-0-0) / 142 pts (11) / (-)
2. Alberta (2-0-0) / 132 pts (2) / (-)
3. Saskatchewan (2-0-0) / 110 pts (1) / (-)
4. StFX* (2-0-0) / 98 pts (1) / (-)
5. McGill* (2-0-0) / 98 pts / (-)
6. Acadia (1-0-1) / 55 pts / (-)
7. Saint Mary's* (1-1-0) / 41 pts / (-)
8. Ryerson* (0-0-0) / 41 pts / (-)
9. Calgary (1-0-1) / 40 pts / (-)
10. York (0-0-0) / 22 pts / (-)
*St. Francis Xavier (over McGill) and Saint Mary's (over Ryerson) were awarded the higher ranking based on number of higher placed votes.
Other teams receiving votes: Queen's (20), UQTR (10), UBC (5), Laurier (3), Carleton (2), Guelph (2), Western (2), Ottawa (1), Concordia (1)
WOMEN'S HOCKEY
(Regular season record) / Points / (Previous Ranking)
1. Alberta (1-0-1) / 40 pts / (-)
2. UBC (1-1-0) / 32 pts / (-)
3. Mcgill (0-0-0) / 31 pts / (-)
4. Concordia (0-0-0) 30 pts / (-)
5. Saint-Mary's (0-0-0) / 20 pts / (-)
6. Guelph (0-0-0) / 15pts / (-)
7. StFx (0-0-0) / 12 pts / (-)
8. Manitoba (1-1-0) /1 1 pts / (-)
9. Montreal (0-0-0) / 9 pts / (-)
10. Nipissing (0-0-0) / 6 pts / (-)
Other teams receiving votes: Moncton (3), St. Thomas (2)
MEN'S SOCCER
(Regular season record) / Points / (Previous Ranking)
1. Montreal (7-0-0) / 60 pts / (1)
2. Alberta (7-1-2) 51 pts / (2)
3. Cape Breton (6-0-1) / 46 pts / (3)
4. Carleton (11-1-2) / 42 pts / (4)
5. York (10-2-1) / 33 pts / (8)
6. Guelph (9-2-1) / 29 pts / (6)
7. UBC (7-3-1) / 24 pts / (5)
8. StFX (5-1-1) 20 pts / (9)
9. Toronto (7-1-4) 15 pts / (7)
10. UQAM (5-2-0) 7 pts / (10)
Other teams receiving votes: Dalhousie (1), Trinity Western (1), McMaster (1)
WOMEN'S SOCCER
(Regular season record) / Points / (Previous Ranking)
1. Laval (7-0-1) / 69 pts / (1)
2. UOIT (11-0-1) / 55 pts (2)
3. UBC (7-1-2) / 42 pts / (3)
4. Western (12-1-0) / 41 pts / (4)
5. Cape Breton (7-0-0) / 30 pts / (5)
6. Victoria (7-1-2) / 24 pts / (6)
7. Ottawa (9-1-3) / 23 pts / (7)
8. Alberta (7-1-2) / 20 pts / (9)
9. Montreal (5-0-3) / 18 pts / (8)
10. Trinity Western (8-2-0) / 17 pts / (NR)
Other teams receiving votes: Queen's (1)