Suddenly, we have a race in the ECAC Hockey standings.

For a few weeks, it looked like three teams were going to run away from the rest of the league. Princeton, Cornell and Quinnipiac were dominating the league.

But everything changed this weekend. Union and RPI played big roles in it by going on the road and taking seven out of eight points from Princeton and Quinnipiac. The Dutchmen beat league-leading Princeton, 3-2, on Friday, and then took a 4-2 decision from the third-place Bobcats on Saturday. The Engineers tied Quinnipiac, 2-2, and then dominated Princeton in a 5-1 win.

Now, the league is up for grabs. Princeton (8-4 league) and Quinnipiac (6-4-2) have played 12 league games, four more than Union and three more than RPI. The Dutchmen (4-4) sit in seventh place with eight points, so winning those games in hand could put Union near Princeton. And, remember, a hot January a year ago played a big role in helping the Dutchmen secure an ECACH tournament first-round bye.

RPI (3-5-1) are in eighth with seven points. But the biggest thing for the Engineers is that they may have given a reason for their fans to stop bashing coach Seth Appert on the message boards. And, yes, I did say on my "Slap Schotts" segment on Thursday's "Big Board Sports" that I couldn't see RPI winning more than two games the rest of the way. Now, home ice in the first round of the playoffs seems like a possibility. When you consider the four teams behind RPI (Colgate, St. Lawrence, Brown and Clarkson) are struggling, there's a good chance the Engineers could be home in the first round for the first time under Appert.

With Princeton suddenly stumbling with a three-game losing streak (all of the losses were at home), the team that got the biggest boost is Cornell, which will be in the Capital Region Friday at Union and Saturday at RPI. The Big Red are 6-0-2, and just two points behind Princeton with four games in hand.

And let's not forget Dartmouth (7-4 and tied with Cornell and Quinnipiac for second) and fifth-place Yale (6-2), who are certainly in the hunt for a first-round bye.

The one team I didn't mention, Harvard, is in sixth. But the Crimson are 4-6-3, and with only nine league games left, chances of moving into the top four are remote.

Before the weekend, I thought three of the four first-round bye spots were secure. Now, only Cornell looks like a sure bet.

This should be fun final seven weeks.

ECACH teams of the week: Union and RPI

OK, I'm probably going to hear it from fans of both teams. The RPI fans will say that I am a Union homer. The Union fans will say that their team swept the weekend, while RPI had a win and a tie.

But you know what? I don't care. I am the judge and jury of this award, and I decided that both teams deserve it. Besides, since I didn't pick either team to win this weekend, I have some making up to do!

Seriously, both teams are worthy of the honor.

Union came from behind to beat Princeton with two third-period goals, including the game-winner from New Jersey native Matt Cook. Then the Dutchmen win the rubber game of the three-game series with Quinnipiac. Jason Walters had two goals and an assist, while Adam Presizniuk added a goal and two assists.

And consider, back in November, Union was overwhelmed by those two teams at Messa Rink. So, to go and win on the road against those two teams is a great payback.

It's a shame RPI couldn't hold on to a 2-0 lead against Quinnipiac on Friday. But to come back less than 24 hours later for a late-afternoon game at Princeton and jump put to a 3-0 lead is very impressive. And hats off to RPI defenseman Erik Burgdoerfer, who had two goals and an assist in the game.

Walters, Lange honored

Walters was named player of the week after his five-point weekend. In addition to his effort against Quinnipiac, Walters had two assists against Princeton.

Lange earned goalie of the week. He had 33 saves in the tie against Quinnipiac, and stopped 26 shots against Princeton.

Scoring change

After reviewing the video from the Quinnipiac game, Dutchmen defenseman Lane Caffaro was given an assist on Mario Valery-Trabucco's late third-period goal. That assist, originally credited to Mike Harr, gives Caffaro 69 career points, making him Union's all-time scoring defenseman at the Division I level. He surpasses Reid Simonton, who played from 1992-96.

Caffaro and Presizniuk were included on the Hobey Baker Award list.

Union gets votes

The Dutchmen received five points in the latest USCHO.com/CBS College Sports NCAA top-20 poll, which was released Monday.

Notre Dame remains No. 1. Cornell moved up from eighth to fifth, and received two first-place votes. Yale moved into the poll at No. 19. Princeton dropped from seventh to 10th.

USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Division I Men's Poll
Team (First Place) Record Pts Last Week
1 Notre Dame (46) 18-3-2 993 1
2 Boston University ( 2) 14-4-1 943 2
3 Northeastern 14-4-2 868 4
4 Denver 15-6-2 827 5
5 Cornell ( 2) 11-1-3 790 8
6 Michigan 15-7-0 692 10
7 Minnesota 10-5-5 674 3
8 Vermont 12-4-3 669 12
9 Miami 12-7-3 525 6
10 Princeton 13-5-0 510 7
11 Colorado College 12-7-5 483 10
12 Boston College 9-6-3 474 9
13 New Hampshire 10-6-4 420 13
14 Ohio State 15-6-1 380 16
15 Air Force 15-4-1 295 14
16 Wisconsin 12-9-3 235 17
17 North Dakota 13-10-1 173 NR
18 Dartmouth 10-6-0 161 15
19 Yale 11-4-0 114 NR
20 Nebraska-Omaha 13-7-3 108 18
Others Receiving Votes: St. Cloud State 48, Minnesota State 30, Quinnipiac 24, Alaska 22, Maine 15, Minnesota-Duluth 8, Michigan State 7, Union 5, RIT 4, Massachusetts 2, Ferris State 1.

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll
Rank School Last Week's Ranking 2008-09 Record Weeks in Top 15
1 University of Notre Dame, 501 (30) 1 18-3-2 14
2 Boston University, 475 (2) 2 14-4-1 14
3 Northeastern University, 421 4 14-4-2 11
4 University of Denver, 389 7 15-6-2 14
5 Cornell University, 385 (2) 6 11-1-3 8
6 University of Michigan, 323 11 15-7-0 14
7 University of Vermont, 317 10 12-4-3 9
8 University of Minnesota, 275 3 10-5-5 14
9 Miami (Ohio) University, 199 8 12-7-3 14
10 Princeton University, 180 5 13-5-0 13
11 Colorado College, 158 12 12-7-5 14
12 Boston College, 135 9 9-6-3 14
13 University of New Hampshire, 129 13 10-6-4 13
14 The Ohio State University, 95 15 15-6-1 2
15 U.S. Air Force Academy, 46 14 15-4-1 9
Others receiving votes: University of Wisconsin, 18; Yale University, 9; University of North Dakota, 8; Quinnipiac University, 6; University of Maine, 4; Dartmouth College, 3; University of Nebraska Omaha, 3; Rochester Institute of Technology, 1.