Penn State hockey drops in polls despite opening weekend win

It was a strong start to October for the Penn State hockey team. Off the ice, Guy Gadowsky flipped top recruit Charlie Cerrato from Big Ten rival Michigan. On the ice, the Nittany Lions earned their first win of the 2023-24 season on the road against Long Island. But apparently, Penn State didn’t do enough to maintain its preseason ranking, as the Nittany Lions dropped in this week’s national polls.

Penn State hockey drops in national polls

Despite getting the job done against Long Island this weekend, it wasn’t enough to impress voters in this week’s USCHO.com poll. The Nittany Lions dropped two spots from their preseason ranking to No. 18 after a 3-2 victory over the Sharks. 

The voters clearly didn’t like the fact that Penn State hockey trailed for a significant portion of the game, and needed all of a five-minute power play, to knock off one of college hockey’s weakest opponents. 

However, Penn State hockey will have a chance to prove to voters that this was just a fluke. On Friday, the Nittany Lions will head to Clarkson (New York), a team that picked up a win at Notre Dame over the weekend. Clarkson checked in with 30 votes, which placed it just outside the top 20. Penn State’s opponent for Saturday, St. Lawrence (New York), also picked up a few votes in the national polls.

On the flip side, with Penn State hockey being so dangerously close to the cut line in the polls, it means the margin for error is slim. You can bet that Guy Gadowsky and the Nittany Lions will do everything they can to stay in the polls prior to the 2023-24 home opener against American International on October 20.

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