The GameTimeCT Top 10 Boys Hockey Poll (Jan. 2): Ridgefield is No. 1

Beginning with its thorough, 5-2 victory over preseason No. 1 Fairfield Prep, unbeaten Ridgefield (5-0) assumes the No. 1 spot in the GameTimeCT Top 10 Boys Hockey Poll heading into 2019.

The Tigers were the unanimous No. 1 heading into the new year. They top a list of three FCIAC teams in the top four, including No. 2 Greenwich and No. 4 Darien. Unbeaten NWC, which opened at No. 8, leaps to No. 3. 

The SCC chimes in with three straight beginning at No. 5 with Notre Dame-West Haven, Hamden and Fairfield Prep. New Canaan, Simsbury are Nos. 8 and 9, respectively. And, finally, NFI and Xavier tied at No. 10.

	TEAM (1st place votes)			REC	PTS	LAST	DIV
	1. RIDGEFIELD (14)			5-0-0	140	2	I
Results: def. Fairfield Prep 5-2, def. Xavier 4-1, def. Notre Dame-Fairfield 7-1, def. LaSalle Academy (R.I.) 5-3, def. Notre Dame-West Haven 6-1. Bottom Line: Tigers are a unanimous No. 1 off a dominant start.
	2. GREENWICH			2-0-1	114	3	I
Results: tied NFI 2-2, def. New Canaan 3-1, def. Darien 3-0. Bottom Line: Cardinals got timely scoring and, no surprise, goaltending in back-to-back wins.
	3. NORTHWEST CATHOLIC			5-0-0	99	8	I
Results: def. Farmington 8-5, def. East Catholic 3-2, def. South Windsor 5-4 (OT), def. Simsbury 7-1, def. Conard 4-1. Bottom Line: Only one Division 1 game in their 5-0 start, but it was the Lions’ biggest win, 7-1 over Simsbury.
	4. DARIEN			2-2-0	93	T5	I
Results: lost to LaSalle Academy (R.I.) 3-2 (OT), def. Hamden 3-1, def. Fairfield Prep 2-1, lost to Greenwich 3-0. Bottom Line: The Blue Wave come back inside to visit Notre Dame-West Haven on Wednesday.
	5. NOTRE DAME- WH			3-2-0	83	7	I
Results: lost to New Canaan 5-2, def. Notre Dame-Fairfield 5-2, def. Simsbury 4-1, def. Hamden 4-3 (OT), lost to Ridgefield 6-1. Bottom Line: Shook the opening loss to win three in a row before meeting the Ridgefield buzzsaw.
	6. HAMDEN			4-3-0	76	4	I
Results: def. New Canaan 3-1, lost to Darien 3-1, def. Xavier 5-3, lost to Notre Dame-West Haven 4-3 (OT), def. North Kingstown (R.I.) 8-2, def. Prout (R.I.) 4-1, lost to Barrington (R.I.) 4-2. Bottom Line: Dragons have rocked back and forth, above and to .500. They go to Greenwich on Wednesday.
	7. FAIRFIELD PREP			2-4-0	63	1	I
Results: lost to Ridgefield 5-2, lost to Darien 2-1, def. Notre -Fairfield 5-2, lost to LaSalle Academy (R.I.) 3-2 (OT), lost to LaSalle (Pa.) 6-4, def. Bishop Guertin (N.H.) 4-3. Bottom Line: After a start with some growing pains, the Jesuits’ only game in two weeks is Saturday at Notre Dame-West Haven.
	8. NEW CANAAN			2-3-0	30	9	I
Results: def. Notre Dame-West Haven 5-2, lost to Hamden 3-1, lost to Simsbury 4-3, lost to Greenwich 3-1, def. St. Joseph 8-0. Bottom Line: The Rams visit NFI and Northwest Catholic this week before the FCIAC season gets rolling.
	9. SIMSBURY			2-2-1	21	NR	I
Results: def. South Windsor 4-1, def. New Canaan 4-3, lost to Notre Dame-West Haven 4-1, lost to Northwest Catholic 7-1, tied Glastonbury 2-2. Bottom Line: Trojans started with two nice wins, though they’re winless in three since.
	T10. NFI			3-1-2	17	NR	I
Results thus far: tied Watertown/Pomperaug 2-2, lost to Amity 3-1, tied Greenwich 2-2, def. St. Joseph 6-1, def. Barrington (R.I.) 5-4, def. Portsmouth (R.I.) 3-0. Bottom Line: Crusader Classic finalists until game restrictions got in the way. Riding a three-game winning streak.
	T10. XAVIER			1-5	17	T5	I
Results: lost to Ridgefield 4-1, lost to Hamden 5-3, lost to Pope Francis (Mass.) 4-0; def. Bishop Fenwick (Mass.) 2-1; lost to Catholic Memorial (Mass.) 5-0. Bottom Line: Amid six out of seven games out of state: Saturday afternoon at Darien.
Dropped out: Notre Dame-Fairfield (10). First-place votes in parentheses and points tabulated on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
Others receiving votes: Watertown/Pomperaug (3-1-2) 5; West Haven (3-2) 4; Amity (4-0) 3; Cheshire (4-1) 3; Notre Dame-Fairfield (1-5) 1, South Windsor (4-2) 1.
The following voted: Media: Sean Begin, Hartford Courant; Luke Devoe, CTHSHockey.org; Michael Fornabaio, Connecticut Post; Tim Jensen, Patch Media Corp.; Greg Lederer, Cheshire Herald; Mike Madera, Elm City Newspapers; Dan Nowak, New Haven Register; Pete Paguaga, Hearst Connecticut Media; Jim Stout, MaxPreps.com; Peter Vander Veer, HAN Network. Coaches: Ken Barse, Glastonbury; Shaun Gallagher, Ridgefield; Matt Sather, Fairfield Prep; Larry Vieira, Notre Dame-West Haven.