Penn State Hockey Climbs 6 Spots in USCHO Poll

Penn State hockey jumped up six spots to No. 6 in this week’s USCHO top 20 poll following its sweep of Wisconsin last weekend.

The Nittany Lions dominated the Badgers, who fell five spots to No. 12, 6-1 on Thursday night before completing the sweep with a 4-2 victory on Friday evening at Pegula Ice Arena. Wisconsin’s potent group of forwards includes top-15 NHL Draft picks Alex Turcotte and Cole Caufield and projected top-10 pick Dylan Holloway, but they were kept at bay throughout the weekend.

Peyton Jones stopped 63 of Wisconsin’s 66 shots as part of a phenomenal weekend performance in goal, and the forward line of Aarne Talvitie, Nikita Pavlychev, and Sam Sternschein were crucial in stopping the Badgers’ high-flying offense. The trio also combined for four goals and eight assists over the course of the weekend — including Sternschein’s game-winning goal midway through the third period of Friday’s game.

Additionally, Nate Sucese tied Andrew Sturtz’s program record for goals with a 175-foot empty net goal on Friday night. The senior is Penn State’s top scorer with 13 points through seven games played in 2019-20. On a more sour note, Denis Smirnov was injured by a dirty hit from Wisconsin’s Roman Ahcan on Thursday and didn’t play in the second game of the series.

No. 6 Penn State (6-1-0, 2-0-0 Big Ten) will close out a nine-game homestand when it hosts Michigan State (2-4-0, 0-0-0 Big Ten) this weekend. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday at Pegula Ice Arena.