Yale on Monday climbed to No. 1 in both media polls, marking its first time atop either.
The Bulldogs’ only blemish came Nov. 14 at Air Force, which rallied from a 3-0 third-period deficit to win 4-3. At the time, Yale was No. 3.
The Falcons’ improbable win began a 4-1-2 stretch that is sandwiched by another dramatic victory that unfolded Saturday at the academy.
Senior center Jacques Lamoureux scored with 0.3 of a second remaining in regulation to give Air Force a 7-6 victory over Holy Cross. The Falcons trailed 3-1 after the first period and 6-4 entering the third.
“Holy Cross didn’t give us this game; we took it,” Air Force coach Frank Serratore said. “In the third period, we were drawing penalties and really took the game to them.”
The win wasn’t as big as the four-goal rally over Yale (10-1), but yet again, the Falcons treated their fans to a terrific third-period comeback.
Freshman sensations.
The country’s top two freshmen scorers are 18-year-olds Jaden Schwartz of Colorado College and Jason Zucker of the University of Denver.
Schwartz leads all freshmen with 25 points, and Zucker has a freshman-high 13 goals. Overall, Schwartz is third nationally in total scoring and Zucker is tied for fourth in goals.
They both had big series last weekend. Schwartz had seven points (two goals) in the Tigers’ sweep at Michigan Tech. He has 16 points in CC’s last seven games.
Zucker produced each of his four points, including his first career hat trick, in Friday’s 5-4 overtime win at Minnesota-Duluth.
Schwartz and Zucker might play against each other before the next Gold Pan series begins Feb. 4.
Schwartz, from Wilcox, Saskatchewan, reports to Team Canada’s world junior camp Saturday in Toronto. Zucker, born in Newport Beach, Calif., and raised in Las Vegas, will be named to USA’s preliminary roster today and report next week in Albany, N.Y.
Team USA begins defense of its (19-under) world junior championship title Dec. 26 in Buffalo.
Footnotes.
DU sophomore and leading scorer Drew Shore will also be named to the U.S. world junior roster. . . . It’s too early to begin putting your NCAA Tournament bracket together, but DU is third and CC is 18th in the PairWise Rankings (PWR). Yale is first, followed by Minnesota-Duluth. North Dakota, Boston College and New Hampshire are tied for fourth.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
Front Range rankings
1. Denver (11-5-2, 8-3-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association). Last week: Split at Minnesota-Duluth, 5-4 OT win, 2-1 loss. This week: Visits Alaska-Anchorage (5-9-2, 4-7-1 WCHA) Friday-Saturday. Comment: Pioneers had their seven-game winning streak snapped Saturday, but splitting at then-No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth was a good result.
2. Colorado College (8-7-1, 5-5 WCHA). Last week: Won twice at Michigan Tech, 7-3 and 5-0. This week: At St. Cloud State (5-9-2, 3-6-1 WCHA). Comment: Behind Schwartz brothers, Tigers ripped Huskies to climb above .500 and into the top half of the WCHA.
3. Air Force (6-7-2, 4-3-2 Atlantic Hockey Association). Last week: Tied and beat Holy Cross, 1-1 and 7-6. This week: Idle (plays next Dec. 30-31 at Bentley). Comment: Fun-to-watch Falcons are 4-1-2 since losing to CC on Nov. 12, and the only loss was 3-1 at Denver. Mike Chambers, The Denver Post
