ALBANY, N.Y. --- ECAC Hockey’s front running team, Union College, also leads the 12 school conference in this week’s USCHO.Com division I men’s ice hockey poll.  The Skating Dutchmen (12-3-3, 8-1-0) enter the poll’s top five, at number-five, after sitting sixth last week.

The Dutchmen’s eight conference wins and 16 points have given them a two point edge over second place Quinnipiac College, who sit second in the conference and eighth in the national poll.  The Bobcat closed out the first half of the season with a 14-3-4 overall mark, while going 6-2-2 against their conference foes.

Yale (7-3-3, 3-2-3), the reigning national champions, cracked the poll’s top-10, for the first time this season.  The Bulldogs, 10^th nationally, sit in a sixth place tie with RPI (8-6-4, 3-3-3) in the conference, each with nine points.

Clarkson stumbled a bit in this week’s poll.  The Golden Knights (12-5-1, 6-2-0) dropped two places, from number-nine last week to 11^th this week. The Golden Knights dropped a pair of games in last week’s Sheraton TD Bank Catamount Cup, falling to host UVM 3-2 and UMass Lowell 3-1.

Cornell (8-4-3, 4-3-2) held onto the 15^th place spot in this week’s poll.  The Big Red has 10 conference points and sits fifth in the league.

For the complete list of the USCHO.Com top 25 men’s division I hockey teams click HERE.

On March 21-22, the conference’s top four teams will face off in Lake Placid when the Olympic Center plays host to the 2014 ECAC Hockey men’s championships.  Lake Placid last played host to the tournament from 1993-2002 and the event marks the 53^rd overall conference championship.

The four top teams coming from the league’s quarterfinal tournament round will battle it out on the ice looking to capture the Whitelaw Cup and an automatic bid to the 67^th annual NCAA Division I men’s hockey tournament. The two semifinal games will take place Friday, March 21, at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and the championship game will be played Saturday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m.

All-session tickets can be purchased by calling the Lake Placid Olympic Center box office at 518-523-3330, or by visiting www.tickets.com. Tickets are priced at $50 for adults (ages 13-64), and $40 for juniors (12 & under) and seniors (65 & older), along with a special student ticket of $20 available, student identification card required, at the campuses of the four participating teams and a special designated ticket window at the 1980 Rink - Herb Brooks Arena box office.

-- ORDA --

Established in 1982, the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) was created by the State of New York to manage the facilities used during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games at Lake Placid. ORDA operates Whiteface, Belleayre and Gore Mountain ski areas; the Olympic Sports Complex at Mt. Van Hoevenberg; the Olympic speed skating oval, Olympic jumping complex and Olympic arena. As host to international and national championships, the Authority has brought millions of athletes, spectator and participants to the region, resulting in significant economic development.