Guelph, ON - For the first time in school history, the Women's Hockey team at the University of Guelph is the No. 1-ranked team in the country. On Tuesday (Nov. 17) the CIS released its weekly national polls, with the Gryphons claiming top spot in Women's Hockey rankings. The Gryphons, who have been regularly ranked in the Top 10 nationally for the last several years, moved up to the poll position after last week finding themselves in a tie for 4th in the rankings.

However, this past weekend, the three teams ahead of Guelph in the rankings (Montreal, U of T & McGill) all suffered losses, including two of those teams who actually lost twice on the weekend. Meanwhile, the Gryphons were dominant in their only game this past weekend, winning 7-0 on the road over the Windsor Lancers. "To be No. 1 in the country is something that all of the girls on the team really take pride in. More importantly, it has motivated us to worker even harder than before to try to maintain that ranking for as long as we can," said Rachel Flanagan, the head coach of the Gryphons Women's Hockey team. The Gryphons will take the ice for the first time as the top ranked team in the CIS this weekend when they head north for a pair of games against Nipissing on Laurentian. First up is a matchup with the Nipissing Lakers on Saturday night in North Bay, followed by a Sunday afternoon game (1:50pm) in Sudbury against the Laurentian Voyageurs. So far this season, the Gryphons have posted a 7-2-0 record while leading the CIS in both goals per game (3.22) as well as goals against (7).
 

WOMEN'S HOCKEY

(regular season record) / (previous ranking)
 
1. Guelph (7-2-0) / (T4)
2. Toronto (7-1-1) / (2) 
3. McGill (4-3-0) / (3)
4. Montreal (4-3-1) / (1) 
5. Western (6-3-0) / (T4)
6. StFX (4-4-1) / (8) 
7. St. Thomas (6-2-1) / (9) 
8. Saskatchewan (7-3-2) / (7)
9. UBC (8-3-1) / (NR)
10. Saint Mary's (7-2-0) / (NR)