State College Youth Ice Hockey Association was founded in 1995 and immediately joined the PAHL, expanding the league's footprint farther to the east.  With teams in Erie, Lawrence County, and Somerset joining that same year, the PAHL suddenly stretched well outside of Pittsburgh.

Ever since joining the PAHL, State College has always been the farthest from the league's geographic center, though an extension to I-99 in the late-2000s made travel to and from State College much easier.  Its players accept the longer travel to away games, as the SCYIHA program annually fields multiple teams at the 10U, 12U, and 14U levels, in addition to a 16U team.

The Icers initially played at the Penn State Ice Pavilion until 2013, when the Pegula Ice Arena was opened on campus to launch NCAA Division 1 hockey at Penn State University.