2025-26 PSU Women's Ice Hockey Thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
Penn State women's hockey rises in the latest USCHO Poll
Penn State climbs to No. 6 in the most recent USCHO Poll, the highest ranking in program history.
No. 6 Penn State women's hockey defeats Vermont, continues hot start to the season
“Stick season” rolls on for No. 6 Penn State as it travels to Vermont for a two-game series against the Catamounts.
No. 6 Penn State women’s hockey completes sweep of Vermont on the road
Opening its series with a 3-1 victory against Vermont on Friday, No. 6 Penn State returned to Gutterson Fieldhouse at 2 p.m. Saturday with the opportunity to clinch its second-straight
I’m happy for them, but if that stat is true, we should not be playing a team of that caliber. Ever.
It's a first-year program that's new to the conference. Now you can argue we should try to get out of this conference, but as of now, it can't be avoided.
Shocking. Even when we were new to the B1G we never only had one shot on goal. The team had a better chance of an injury than giving up a goal.
Trust me, I was very surprised at the result. I figured we'd win both games big, but not in that fashion. They do have both OSU and Cornell on the schedule, who are top 5, as well as Northeastern, which is top 15. But outside of Mercyhurst, the AHA doesn't have many challengers for us.
I'm not sure there is an easy solution.
There are only 6 conferences in women's college hockey. Geographically, the one PSU is in (Atlantic Hockey) makes the most sense. The downside to it is that Mercyhurst is the only other ranked team in the conference (using USCHO rankings, throughout this discussion). The ECAC is a combination of the Ivies and colleges in New England, NY, and NJ. The ECAC has 12 teams, and 5 of them are ranked. Hockey East is basically New England colleges that are not Ivies or are in the ECAC. The closest team to State College is probably UCONN. There are 10 colleges in the conference, with 3 of them being ranked. The NEWHA is a combination of New England and New York. There are 8 teams in the conference, and none of them are ranked. Lastly, there is the WCHA, which is a located in the midwest. Ohio State is the closest team, geographically, in the conference to PSU. There are 8 teams in the conference, with 5 of them being ranked (including the currently #1, #2, #3, and #4 teams).
All of the conferences contain an even number of teams, with the exception of the Atlantic Hockey, which now has 7 teams after Delaware joined. For scheduling purposes, an even number of teams is the preference, though an odd number can be handled -- it's just more difficult.
The creation of a B1G conference would solve the issue. Alas, at this point, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Minnesota are the only B1G schools other than PSU that field teams. And as Wisky, tOSU, and Minny are all in the WCHA (the best conference), it would be a challenge to convince them to join PSU in a B1G conference, and also pick off a few other schools to get the conference to a decent size.
OOC scheduling can, to an extent, address the issue.
This season, PSU plays in their OOC games:
- St. Lawrence (in the ECAC, and currently ranked)
- Vermont (in Hockey East, and not currently ranked)
- Northeastern (in Hockey East, and currently ranked)
- Cornell (in the ECAC, and currently ranked)
- Ohio State (in the WCHA, and currently ranked)
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