How Penn State Women's Hockey Built a Frozen Four Program

STATE COLLEGE | The Penn State women’s hockey team is skating through a historic season, but its biggest accomplishment might be in culture-building. The Nittany Lions are making more headlines this week with their first Women’s Frozen Four appearance after defeating UConn 3-0 in the NCAA regional final.

And they’re led by a group of six seniors whose unwavering commitment to the program has propelled the team to this moment. Third-seeded Penn State plays second-seeded Wisconsin at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday on home ice at Pegula Ice Arena.

“The women in our locker room are really loud, they get along with each other, and it’s the loudest team I’ve ever coached, and that’s been a long time,” Penn State women’s hockey coach Jeff Kampersal said. “Everything they do is pro and they do it with all their heart and they do it together.”

The star of the group is Tessa Janecke, the program’s all-time leading scorer who became the first Penn State athlete to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics. Now, she’ll try to win an NCAA title in the same year.

Penn State hockey player Tessa Janecke goes for the puck during a Nittany Lions hockey game. — Penn State hockey player Tessa Janecke goes for the puck during a Nittany Lions hockey game vs. UConn. | Penn State Athletics

For the entire Penn State senior class, reaching this Frozen Four was important. Pegula Ice Arena is hosting for the first time since 2022, when Ohio State defeated Minnesota Duluth 3-2.

“That’s kind of been in the back of our head since freshman year, to be completely honest,” senior defenseman Kendall Butze said. “We’ve known we were going to host the 2026 Frozen Four for quite some time now, so I think just trying to get the program to a position where we can actually make that a realistic goal for ourselves was something that we’ve been talking about for a few years now.”

Penn State, which won a program-record 33 games this season, is 18-1 at Pegula Ice Arena. Just over 1,600 fans attended Penn State’s win over UConn, which is the fifth-largest crowd in program history. Wisconsin is the defending national champ, so Kampersal wants Hockey Valley to “show up” for the semifinal.

“I’m always just amazed where on campus, like we have a really dynamite team and still struggle to fill Pegula, where people go to women’s volleyball — like deservedly so, they’re amazing athletes and they fill 5,000, but maybe the men don’t get as much,” Kampersal said. “So I’m not sure why there’s a differential, but hopefully Friday Hockey Valley shows up and really supports the women because they deserve it.”

Ohio State, last season’s runner-up, plays Northeastern in the first semifinal at 4 p.m. Friday. Penn State has lost in the regional round the past three seasons. Quinnipiac defeated the Nittany Lions in 2023, and St. Lawrence knocked them out in 2024 and 2025.

Building a culture

THE FROZEN FOUR RUNS THROUGH HOCKEY VALLEY ❄️🏒

🎟️ https://t.co/I1jHEMkn4A #WeAre | @NCAAIceHockey pic.twitter.com/GeLMMHPEgw
— Penn State Athletics (@GoPSUsports) March 18, 2026

The Nittany Lions have won four straight Atlantic Hockey America championships and went 22-2 in the league this season, setting a record for conference wins. With a 33-5 overall record, the 2026 team season is the winningest in program history.

“I feel like the biggest accomplishments come within our team,” senior forward Maddy Christian said. “I think the culture was something that we focused on this year and something that has led to all of our successes.”

When building this roster through the recruiting process, Kamperski said the goal was to change Penn State’s presence on the ice through toughness and competitiveness.

“I knew we had the group that could change the narrative of how we play on the ice, which would help us off the ice,” Kampersal said.

The players bonded instantly and developed into leaders who Kampersal said brought new meaning to what a “player-led” team looks like.

“It’s kind of cool looking back at it because we have three forwards, two [defenders] and the goalie, which is like six of us in that starting position,” Christian said. “And then you fast forward through the years, everybody has their ups and downs, everybody is a different human at different times, but we are also different hockey players, and that’s what makes us so good.

"We appreciate one another so much because we bounce off one another, like we’ve gone through this together. Nobody’s transferred, nobody’s coming in like we have this class that’s so connected and so strong, and that is what’s kind of driven our culture.”

The Frozen Four effect

This weeks @PALottery winning moment of the week goes to No. 3 @PennStateWHKY as they advanced to the program's first Frozen Four with a 3-1 win against No. 6 UConn at Pegula Ice Arena on March 14. Senior goaltender Katie DeSa excelled between the pipes, making 36 saves in her… pic.twitter.com/YhVUPOnF6J
— Penn State Athletics (@GoPSUsports) March 18, 2026

Last season, the Penn State men’s team made its first Frozen Four appearance, which heavily impacted recruiting and helped the program land Gavin McKenna, the projected No. 1 overall pick of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.

For the women’s team, Kampersal hopes the impact of this Frozen Four appearance goes deeper than recruiting.

“We’re kind of on that path of being in a good recruiting place already, and now we’re constantly trying to find the best competition that we can play during the season to get us ready for the big game like on Friday,” Kampersal said. “So that’s our next mini-evolution of our program.”

Penn State is one of two ranked teams in its conference, so out-of-conference games are really important. This season, the Nittany Lions notably won both their games against Cornell, split their series against Northeastern and were swept by Ohio State in January.

“That [Ohio State series] was an important series for us, and we matched up, I felt, pretty good in terms of physicality and speed,” Kampersal said. “But we got in penalty trouble, which didn’t favor us.”

Wisconsin, which lost its conference title to the Buckeyes, will be another tough test for the Nittany Lions.

“We just need to play smart and keep our feet moving and know that they’re a talented group,” Kampersal said. “They’ll be ready to go.”

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