by Ben Jones

For the first time in program history, Penn State hockey picked up votes in the USCHO Top 20 poll, with six votes to the Nittany Lions’ credit.

Penn State opened the 2014-15 season 1-0-1 against the newly minted Hockey East, UConn Huskies tying the season opener 2-2 and winning a Saturday afternoon contest 7-1 to start the year off on the right skate.

The Nittany Lions enter their third year as a Division I program and second in the new Big Ten hockey contest. Penn State returns 99-percent of their scoring from last year. The Nittany Lions are looking to improve off of last year’s 8-26-2 record that was far better than the final results indicated facing Top 10 teams on nearly a nightly basis and losing 11 games by a single goal.

Penn State will have a ways to go and more to prove before getting ranked, Minnesota-Duluth comes in at No. 20 with 108 points in the poll.

This week the Nittany Lions head to Alaska to face Alaska-Anchorage and Alaska in a two game series before heading back home to host Holy Cross and Bentley for four-straight games to close out the opening month of the season.