Ohio dropped out of the top-five of the American Collegiate Hockey Association rankings for the first time since November in the latest rankings, released on Friday.
The drop to sixth comes after four straight losses to Lindenwood and Penn State, both of whom retained their places in the top five. Liberty University leapfrogged Ohio into the fifth position thanks to a pair of wins over Oakland last weekend.
Penn State solidified its at the top of the table, largely due to the two wins over rivals Ohio in Athens last weekend. The Icers were in trouble of losing their No. 1 ranking to Delaware in the last poll released Jan. 20, when the Blue Hens received more first-place votes and were only two points shy of Penn State. But those wins over Ohio, coupled with a Delaware loss to Rhode Island Jan. 21, was enough to put the Icers comfortably on top by 40 points this time.
Two wins over Ohio Jan. 20 and 21 was also a major factor in Central States Collegiate Hockey League regular-season champions Lindenwood moving up a spot to third over Arizona State, which lost twice to Oklahoma Jan. 21 and 22.
Iowa State, Minot State, Oklahoma and Robert Morris rounded out the top 10.
The Bobcats will have one last chance to improve their position before the next rankings are released on Feb. 17 when they host Kent State for a two-game series next weekend. The top 20 teams in that Feb. 17 will qualify for March’s ACHA national tournament, with seeding determined by the rankings.
cd211209@ohiou.edu