Penn State Hockey: Lions Reach New Heights With No. 14 Ranking

The Penn State men’s hockey team program earned another first on Monday afternoon by being ranked in both major national polls. The Nittany Lions entered the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll at No. 15 for the first time in program history and improved two spots in the USCHO.com poll to No. 14.

 Penn State is riding a nine-game unbeaten streak into the holiday break. The Nittany Lions picked up 75 points in the USA Hockey Magazine poll for its first national ranking by that entity, one vote behind No. 14 St. Lawrence. There are 34 voters on the panel.

In the USCHO.com poll, Penn State earned a program-high ranking of 14^th with 336 points from 50 total voters. The 336 points are an increase of 60 points from last week.

The Nittany Lions have won four straight games since earning their first ranking of the season.

In the Pairwise Rankings, Penn State has moved up three spots to No. 9 from a week ago. The Pairwise, while not official, mimics the process by which the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee chooses its national tournament. After the six automatic bids are accounted for, the next 10 teams according to the Pairwise make the NCAA Tournament.

Penn State is off until Dec. 28 when it faces Robert Morris at the fourth annual Three Rivers Classic hosted by CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh. Opening faceoff is set for 7:30 p.m. following the conclusion of UMass Lowell-Clarkson at 4 p.m. PSU will face either UML or Clarkson on Tuesday, Dec. 29.

PSU’s All-Time USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Rankings

Dec. 14, 2015:   No. 15

PSU’s All-Time USCHO.com Rankings

Dec. 15, 2014:   No. 20

Feb. 9, 2015:     No. 19

Nov. 23, 2015:   No. 20

Nov. 30, 2015:   No. 19

Dec. 7, 2015:    No. 16

Dec. 14, 2015:   No. 14