The past three weeks have been rather quiet in Atlantic Hockey, but fans will have plenty to choose from this weekend, as 24 games dot the schedule – 13 on the men’s side and 11 on the women’s.
Bentley and Niagara – the current second and third-place teams in the standings – will be one of two conference series, alongside Air Force and Sacred Heart.
Holy Cross and Robert Morris will compete in the Cactus Cup and Desert Hockey Classic respectively, while AIC, Army, Mercyhurst and RIT (exhibition) will also be in action.
The women’s slate is littered with games too as Syracuse visits No. 4 Minnesota Duluth on Thursday and Friday, and Lindenwood hosts Minnesota State. Robert Morris also hosts Yale for a pair of games and RIT heads to Post.
However, the biggest matchup takes place Saturday, as 12th-ranked Penn State heads to the State of Hockey.
The Nittany Lions will take on Bemidji State on Friday and face No. 3 Minnesota on Saturday at Ridder Arena. The games are part of the East/West Showcase and will be Penn State’s first action since Dec. 7.
Penn State is currently 15-4-1 and has won nine of its past 11 (9-1-1), including a sweep at Mercyhurst last time out. Jeff Kampersal’s club is 8-0-0 in conference play and sits atop the standings with 22 points – six ahead of second-place Syracuse.
Penn State’s roster features five of the league’s top eight point leaders and four of the top seven goal scorers, and the Nittany Lions have out-scored their opponents, 71-33. Tessa Janecke and Maddy Christian have lit the lamp 14 times each, and Janecke leads the conference with 31 points through 20 games.
𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 🏆
Congrats to Tessa Janecke and @usahockey on becoming Six Nations Tournament Champions! #WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/gghqgDWFs0
Penn State also leads AHA in goals against per game (1.65), shots on goal per game (37), penalty kill (84.9%) and its 16 power-play goals rank second.
The Nittany Lions are 2-3 against ranked opponents so far this season but will look to pull back to .500 and make a statement with a win over the Golden Gophers.
Here are some of the other top storylines this week in Atlantic Hockey.
One might say Walter Zacher is having a good season💪 pic.twitter.com/0fL07fvJ1u
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