You can thank RPI for improving the Harvard hockey team's ranking in the national polls.

The Engineers did the unlikely last Saturday in Minneapolis, Minn.--they soundly defeated the University of Minnesota, 7-4.

The loss meant one thing for the Gophers: They would no longer be the number-two ranked team in the nation. In stepped Harvard to claim that honor in this week's USA Coaches' Poll.

The Crimson (11-0 overall, 9-0 ECAC, 7-0 Ivy League), the best team in the East, is now ranked second in the poll, behind top-ranked Michigan State (17-1). ECAC rival St. Lawrence (10-0) holds the third slot.

Mark January 13 on your calendar. That's when Harvard faces the Saints in Canton, N.Y.

A Young Leader: The battle for the top of the ECAC scoring list continues. Otherwise known as the C.J., Al, Lane and Pete Show.

With his six-point performance last Monday against Dartmouth, C.J. Young now leads the league in most points scored with 22. But linemate Allen Bourbeau is right behind Young with 21 points.

Don't forget Captain Lane MacDonald, Bourbeau's and Young's linemate, whose total of 19 points puts him in a third-place tie with another Crimson teammate, Peter Ciavaglia (5-14--19).

Overall, the Young-Bourbeau-MacDonald attack has combined for 68 points (29 goals, 39 assists) in 11 games.

No Goals Allowed: While the Harvard offense has averaged 7.2 goals per game in ECAC action, the Harvard defense has allowed only 16 goals in nine league games. That's an average of 1.8 goals.

The Crimson probably played its most impressive period of the year against Dartmouth. In the opening period, the Big Green took a total of nine shots, and only four of them went on target.

But look where Dartmouth took its shots (see accompaning chart). Not one shot taken from in front of the net was on target. And the Green took six shots from either the blue line or the neutral zone.

Goal of the Week: If the honor was called Goal Scorer of the Week, it would go to Young, who collected five tallies against the Big Green.

If it was called Clutch Goal of the Week, it would go to John Weisbrod, whose overtime goal against New Hampshire gave Harvard a 4-3 victory last Saturday.

But this week the honor goes to Nick Carone. The senior defenseman, with the help of Weisbrod and Ciavaglia, scored one of this year's best executed tallies in the Dartmouth game.