UNH moved up to No. 5 in today’s Football Championship Subdivision poll. The Wildcats improved to 4-0 with Saturday’s 42-6 win over Dartmouth and are off this Saturday. They face William & Mary, 2-1, in a Colonial Athletic Association game in Durham on Oct. 11. . . . UNH is the second-highest rated CAA team in the poll and is one of six league teams in the top 18. . . . James Madison, 4-1, moved up a spot to No. 1. Appalachian State is at No. 2, Montana at No. 3 and McNeese at No. 4. JMU received 87 first-place votes, Montana 16, McNeese one and UNH three. . . . Richmond, which was No. 1 last week, fell to No. 6 with a loss to Villanova. Villanova is at No. 14, Delaware at No. 16 and Massachusetts at No. 18.
The UNH football team, ranked No. 7 in the country last week, may be in line for a small promotion in The Sports Network poll. No. 1 Richmond lost at Villanova, 26-20, and No. 5 Northern Iowa lost to Southern Illinois, 27-24, on Saturday. . . . No. 2 James Madison, which plays in the Colonial Athletic Association with Richmond and UNH, is likely to move into the top spot. James Madison won 24-10 at Maine to improve to 4-1. . . . In UNH’s immediate vicinity in the poll, No. 6 McNeese State beat Southern Virginia 63-7 and No. 8 Elon beat Samford 23-17. . . . No. 4 Montana and UNH are the only undefeated teams in the Top 10. Both are up to 4-0 after wins on Saturday.
UNH football coach Sean McDonnell said junior tight end Scott Sicko, who has caught three touchdown passes in the last two games, is doing a better job of blocking, too. “I thought he got a lot better last spring and early this season he was just OK,” McDonnell said. “Last week he was back to being the Scott Sicko I saw in the spring. We challenge him on it. We want him to be an all-encompassing tight end. He had a great block on one of Chad’s runs last week.” . . . Sicko has 14 catches for 196 yards this season. Last season, he was second on the team with 51 catches. They were good for 619 yards and six touchdowns.
UNH coach Sean McDonnell expects that linebacker Matt Parent, who left Saturday’s game against Albany with an upper body injury, to play on Saturday at Dartmouth. . . . The coach said early this afternoon that the status of a couple of other key Wildcats is a bit up in the air. He hoped running back Chad Kackert, with a knee injury, and cornerback John Clements, a hamstring, would be able to go in practice later the afternoon. If the Wildcats had been playing Tuesday, he said, they would have been out of the lineup.
The UNH women’s hockey team pulled down the No. 4 spot in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine pre-season poll. Defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth is the top pick, Wisconsin is second and Minnesota third. . . . UNH went 33-4-1 last season and lost in the national semifinals to Minnesota-Duluth, despite outshooting the Bulldogs 43-5. . . . The rest of the Top 10 went like this: Harvard at No. 5, Mercyhurst, St. Lawrence, Dartmouth, Providence and Boston College. UNH plays Brampton in an exhibition game on Friday night at the Whittemore Center and opens the regular season at home against BC on Oct. 8.
The UNH men’s hockey team has been picked No. 7 in the USA Today/USA Hockey magazine pre-season poll. Defending national champion Boston College received 27 of 34 first-place votes and was the top pick. The Eagles were followed by Michigan, Notre Dame, North Dakota, Colorado College, Denver and then UNH. . . . The poll goes through 15 spots and Boston University, at No. 10, was the only other Hockey East team on the list. . . . The Wildcats open the regular season at home against No. 13-ranked Wisconsin on Oct. 11.
The undefeated UNH football team jumped three spots to No. 7 in The Sports Network poll released this afternoon. . . . The Colonial Athletic Association took charge at the top of the rankings, too. Richmond, thanks to James Madison, moved into the No. 1 spot. JMU is at No. 2. . . . James Madison 35-32 win over three-time defending national champion and former No. 1 Appalachian State shook things up. Richmond was No. 2 in last week’s poll and James Madison was No. 5. . . . Appalachian State (1-2), is now No. 3, Montana (3-0) is fourth in the poll, Northern Iowa (2-1) fifth and McNeese State (1-1) is sixth. . . . There are still six CAA teams in the poll’s Top 20. Both Delaware and Massachusetts tumbled after losses on Saturday. Delaware (1-2) fell from sixth to No. 17 with a 23-21 loss at Furman and UMass (2-2) from No. 9 to No. 18 with a 56-14 loss at Texas Tech. Villanova (2-1) is No. 19.
UNH wide receiver Mike Boyle had to get after a pass late third period from R.J. Toman that looked like it might be slightly overthrown and turned into the decisive score in Saturday’s 32-24 victory over Albany. . . . “It was an outstanding catch,” said UNH offensive coordinator Sean Devine, who calls the shots from a perch well above the field. “He adjusted well on the ball and that’s what makes him a special player. I thought it might be a little too deep. Mike the last two weeks has made some big-time catches and that’s what we need. R.J. did a great job, too, because he had pressure from the edge and was able to pull up and plant and get rid of it.” . . . Boyle has 20 catches for 268 yards and three scores through the first three games. Tight end Scott Sicko has 14 catches for 196 yards and also has three touchdowns.
Sophomore J.T. Wright, who started the first two games at wide receiver, is not in uniform today for the University of New Hampshire in its home opener against Albany. Wright hurt his hamstring in the first half of last week’s win over Rhode Island. He has two catches for the season. . . . Josh Lane, a true freshman out of Derry and Pinkerton Academy, is also on the sidelines. Lane had moved into the backup spot at left guard behind junior Dan Larkin. Larkin replaced Chris McClurg, who is out four to five weeks with a knee injury. Lane injured his shoulder during practice on Tuesday.
Mike Boyle, a former Plymouth High star and now a UNH wide receiver and football captain, on coach Chuck Lenahan’s 300 wins at Plymouth: “That’s an unbelievable accomplishment. I’m happy for him because a), he deserves it, and b) he’s the type of guy you just love to play for. I just wish him the best in the future, too.” . . . Lenahan got a chance to get down to West Point to see Boyle and the Wildcats beat Army a couple of weeks ago. . . . Boyle is one of three former Bobcats on the UNH roster: Sophomore defensive back Brian Mayhew and freshman running back Shawn Sweeney are the others. The only school sending with more players on the current roster is Manchester West.
