UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's ice hockey team has climbed back into the national rankings for the first time in nearly a year as the Nittany Lions enter the week No. 16 in the latest USCHO.com top-20 poll released on Monday afternoon.
Penn State is 6-1-0 to begin the 2021-22 season and is coming off a 6-4 victory against No. 6 North Dakota on Saturday as part of the 2021 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game in Nashville, Tennessee. PSU was last ranked No. 15 in the November 23, 2020, poll.
The victory against UND was the first for PSU over a top-10 team since October 31 and November 1, 2019, when the Nittany Lions swept then-No. 7 Wisconsin. North Dakota dropped two spots to No. 8 in this week's poll.
PSU is joined in the top-10 by three other Big Ten schools led by Michigan at No. 3 while Minnesota and Notre Dame are also inside the top-20 at No. 5 and No. 17, respectively. Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan State are all receiving votes.
Penn State is paced offensively by junior Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) with six goals and eight points so far this season including his first career hat-trick two weeks ago against Niagara.
Senior goaltender Oskar Autio (Espoo, Finland) has started five of the team's first seven games between the pipes compiling a record of 4-1-0 with a .922 save percentage and a 2.00 goals-against average.
Penn State begins conference play this coming weekend against Ohio State in Columbus. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday.
For more information on the 2021-22 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: the Official Bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
