Minnesota-Duluth Remains No. 1 in NCAA Division I Hockey

New year, same standings.

Defending NCAA Division I men's hockey champion Minnesota-Duluth, unbeaten in its last 16 outings, remains atop the USCHO.com poll.

UMD (14-3-3 overall) garnered all 50 first-place votes in the Jan. 9 poll, putting them ahead of Ohio State, Notre Dame, Boston College and Minnesota. It's the fifth straight week that the Bulldogs have been ranked first in the nation.

Boston University, Merrimack, Colorado College, Cornell and Western Michigan round out this week's USCHO top ten.

The Bulldogs, who defeated Michigan in April to win their first-ever national title, haven't lost since a 5-4 setback to rival Minnesota on Oct. 15. Since then, they've gone 13-0-3.

Senior center Jack Connolly is tied for the national scoring lead with 12 goals and 21 assists for 33 points. A Duluth native, Connolly has tallied 170 points in 145 career games.

Senior goaltender Kenny Reiter, the first Pennsylvania native to ever play for the Bulldogs, has compiled a 14-2-3 record and three shutouts, along with a 2.18 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage this season.

Reiter just seven wins short of 50 victories for his career.

UMD is also leading the Division I ranks with an average of 4.1 goals scored per contest and have recorded five or more goals in eight games already.

The Bulldogs are tied with Minnesota for first place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with 22 points on the strength of a 10-2-2 conference record. They will attempt to keep their No. 1 streak going this weekend in a pair of games at Nebraska-Omaha.