ECAC Announces Women's West Preseason Coaches Poll

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CENTERVILLE, Mass. - The Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers received eight first-place votes and 98 total points to lead the 2011-12 Division III Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Women's West pre-season coaches poll.  The defending ECAC Women's West co-regular season and tournament champions enter the season as favorites after finishing the 2010-11 season as the NCAA Division III runner-up.  Plattsburgh State, the co-champion of the regular season, earned the other two first-place votes to finish second in the poll with 89 total points.

The ECAC Women's West opens the season with three teams in the top 10 of the initial United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) poll.  RIT is the No. 2  team in the nation, Plattsburgh opens at No. 4, and Elmira earns a season-opening spot at No. 10.

RIT finished the regular season 22-1-2, falling to ECAC Women's East member Norwich in the NCAA national championship game.  Regarded as the top team in the nation for much of the season, the Tigers shared the regular-season championship with Plattsburgh with a 15-1-2 record, receiving a bye in the first round of the ECAC Tournament before hosting the semifinals and finals.  Against Plattsburgh in the conference championship game, the Tigers erased a 1-0 deficit with two late third period goals to claim their first conference title, 2-1, at Frank Ritter Arena in Rochester.

The Plattsburgh State Cardinals finished the regular season 19-3-3, sharing the regular season championship with RIT with a 15-1-2 conference record. The Cardinals defeated Neumann, 2-1, in the conference semifinals after earning a first-round bye.  Elmira, ranked third in the ECAC pre-season poll with 81 overall points, comes off a third-place regular season showing in 2010-11, finishing with a 12-4-2 conference record (16-7-2 overall).

Oswego State hopes to make a run at the tournament championship after making the playoffs as the five-seed last year, finishing 8-7-3 in the conference (13-9-3 overall).  The Lakers, who received votes in the first USCHO poll for the 2011-12 season, fell 2-1 in overtime of the first round of the postseason to Neumann, ranked fifth in the coaches preseason poll.  The Knights were 10-6-2 in the conference and 15-6-4 overall, earning the four-seed in the conference tournament and a first-round home game.

The Utica Pioneers earned the final spot in the ECAC playoffs with an 8-10-0 conference record.  Utica hopes to continue a recent string of success after last season's 2-1 upset win over third-seeded Elmira in the first round of the 2011 ECAC Tournament.  The Buffalo State Bengals finished last season 5-12-1 in conference play, 9-14-1 overall, emerging as the seventh team in the poll with 42 points.

SUNY Cortland finished the 2010-11 campaign 4-18-3 overall (3-12-3 in the conference) and stand firm in the eighth spot of the preseason poll.  Potsdam, 10-13-2 overall, narrowly missed the ECAC tournament, finishing in seventh with a 6-11-1 conference record, three points behind the Pioneers for the final spot in the postseason.  Chatham enters the 2011-12 season hoping to bounce back from a difficult 2010-11 campaign in which the team went 0-18-0.

Potsdam and Oswego State open the ECAC Women's West out-of-conference schedule tomorrow as the Lakers face off against the Duram Jr. Lightning in an exhibition and the Bears play Penn State.  The ECAC conference schedule opens Oct. 29 when Potsdam travels to Plattsburgh State to take on the Cardinals.