Dec. 11, 2017
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Continuing to ride the nation's third longest active unbeaten streak of eight games, the Penn State men's ice hockey team has climbed to No. 15 in the latest USCHO.com national poll released earlier Monday afternoon.
The Nittany Lions are 6-0-2 in their last eight games and move up three spots from last week's poll after sweeping Robert Morris over the weekend.
Penn State joins four other Big Ten teams in the rankings this week as they sit behind Notre Dame (No. 3), Ohio State (No. 9), Minnesota (No. 10) and Wisconsin (No. 13) while Michigan is still receiving votes.
During the current unbeaten streak, Penn State is averaging 5.12 goals per contest, the most in the country, while only allowing 2.12 goals a game. The Nittany Lions are outscoring opponents 41-17, which is the most goals in the nation during the last month.
Overall this season Penn State ranks tops in the nation in goals (82), assists (144), points (226), shots on goal (825) and shots on goal per game (41.25). Junior Andrew Sturtz (Buffalo, N.Y.) is the second leading scorer in the entire country with 26 points on 10 goals and 16 assists.
During this current eight-game unbeaten streak both Sturtz and sophomore Brandon Biro (Sherwood Park, Alb.) lead the Big Ten and rank second in the nation with 12 points, each having scored three goals and added nine assists.
The eight-game unbeaten streak for the Nittany Lions marks the fourth time in the last four seasons that they've had an unbeaten streak of at least eight games. Last season Penn State set a program-record with a 13-game unbeaten streak that lasted from the middle of October to the beginning of December.
The Nittany Lions will have the next 25 days off for finals and the holidays before their next game when they welcome the 13th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers to Pegula Ice Arena to begin the second semester of play on January 5-6, 2018.