Union And RPI Men’s Hockey Ranked In National Poll

The Union men's ice hockey team will open the 2011-12 season with its highest ever preseason ranking. The Dutchmen were ranked No. 11 in both the preseason USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Polls.

Union, which finished the 2010-2011 season ranked No. 12 in both polls, earned 382 points in the USCHO.com poll and 151 points in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.

Meanwhile, the RPI men's hockey team is ranked 18th in the USCHO.com Division I Poll, but went unranked in the USA Today poll. The Engineers, who were 20-13-5 a season ago, received 121 votes to earn a spot on the list. RPI, which is coached by Seth Appert, finished last season ranked 18th nationally.

The 2010-11 Engineers posted a national ranking for most of the season and earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The team recorded back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in nearly 10 years (2000-01 & 2001-02) and ranked in the top-15 nationally in scoring defense, penalty kill and winning percentage.