Lake Superior State moves into Top 20 after weekend split with No. 10 BG

By @MichaelCaples –

Lake Superior State continued its strong start to the 2018-19 campaign during the team’s road trip to Bowling Green this past weekend, and they’re drawing some national praise.

LSSU checks in at No. 20 on this week’s USCHO college hockey poll after improving to 6-3-1 on the season with a Friday night victory over then-No. 10 BGSU down in Ohio.

It is the first time that the Lakers have cracked the national poll since 2016.

That victory came from a 30-save shutout from Nick Kossoff and goals from five different players. Ashton Calder, Will Riedell, Lukas Kaelble, Anthony Nellis and Collin Saccoman all scored for the Lakers in the program’s latest statement victory.

BGSU rebounded with a 5-2 victory the next night, but, the Friday victory was still what LSSU needed to climb into the Top 20 of the college hockey rankings.

Road trips haven’t bothered them so far; the Lakers started the season with a road sweep of Merrimack, and then closed October with a road sweep of Alabama-Huntsville. Throw in a 5-2 victory at home over Michigan on Nov. 2, and they have certainly built a resume worthy of the votes needed to check in at No. 20.

The Lakers now have home dates with Northern Michigan and Minnesota State before trips to Alaska, USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth for an exhibition contest with the National Team Development Program, and Detroit for the Great Lakes Invitational.