MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Penn State men's ice hockey team finished the season ranked in the top-20 for the third-consecutive year coming in at No. 17 in the final USCHO.com Poll of the 2018-19 campaign released on Monday afternoon.
The Nittany Lions have landed in the final poll of the year for the third consecutive season after finishing No. 13 and No. 8 following the 2017-18 and 2016-17 seasons, respectively. Penn State opened the season ranked No. 16 and remained ranked each week during the 2018-19 campaign including 12 weeks inside the top-10 even climbing as high as No. 5 on the November 12, 2018 poll.
The Nittany Lions have now been ranked in 66-of-72 polls since the beginning of the 2016-17 season including a program-record 39-straight USCHO.com polls dating back to December 4, 2017. Penn State finished the year with its second-most single-season wins all-time and a 22-15-2 record reaching its second Big ten Championship game in the past three seasons falling to Notre Dame, 3-2.
With the conclusion of the 2018-19 season this past weekend, Penn State finished the year leading the nation in almost every offensive category setting team records for goals (177), assists (301), points (478) and goals per game (4.54). The Nittany Lions also led the nation averaging 41.0 shots per game and blocking 611 shots. With its offensive dominance, Penn State either broke or tied 37 team, individual, career, single-season or single-game records throughout the course of the 2018-19 season.
In total four of the seven Big Ten teams finished the season ranked led by back-to-back Big Ten Tournament champion Notre Dame at No. 10 and 2018-19 regular season champion Ohio State at No. 12. Minnesota finished the campaign ranked tied for 20th after an up-and-down season.
The Nittany Lions are slated to return 20 players from their 2018-19 roster for next season including their top-5 scorers and 11 of their top-13 as they once again look to contend for the Big Ten Championship and will eye a return to the NCAA Tournament when the puck drops in October.