Penn State Women’s Hockey Secures First-Ever NCAA Tournament Win, Clinches Frozen Four Bid

Penn State women’s hockey added another big achievement to its historic season, earning the first NCAA tournament win in program history on Saturday afternoon at Pegula Ice Arena.

The No. 3 Nittany Lions downed No. 6 UConn, 3-0, in the regional championship to clinch a spot in the Frozen Four, which will also be hosted at Pegula.

How it happened

It didn’t take long for forward Matilde Fantin to find the back of the net, backhanding the puck past goaltender Tia Chan on the first shot of the game for either team. Fellow Olympian Nicole Hall was credited with the assist.

“I thought it was important to score the first goal,” head coach Jeff Kampersal said. “And then after that, I thought we managed the game well.”

Penn State’s early faceoff success allowed it to dominate possession in the early going, mounting an advantage in shots. 

Some tie-ups presented the officials several opportunities to dish out penalties, but they opted to keep their whistles dry, resulting in a fast-paced first period with minimal stoppages.

“Whenever I got hit, even if they were dirty, it’s like, if I’m going to hit them, they’re gonna hit me,” forward Tessa Janecke said. “So I appreciated that we wouldn’t get called for anything like that.”

The first penalty of the game came in the second period when forward Megan Woodworth was booked for hooking. Just 34 seconds in, defender Julia Stephen was penalized for cross checking, creating an extended 5-on-3 opportunity.

The Huskies survived the scare, keeping it a one-goal game with a disciplined defensive effort that minimized shots. After returning to full strength, they created scoring opportunities in the attack zone.

Both netminders, Chan and Katie DeSa, came up with critical saves, resulting in a scoreless second period of play.

UConn went to the power play for the first time after forward Maddy Christian was assessed a minor penalty for interference, but the Nittany Lions completed the kill with little difficulty.

Shortly after, Penn State picked up its own power-play opportunity when forward Julia Pellerin was whistled for tripping, but that too was killed.

With under seven minutes to play, forward Tessa Janecke intercepted a pass from Chan, allowing her to slot the puck into the vacated net to double the lead.

With the Nittany Lions nursing a 2-0 lead, things got chippy down the stretch, with frequent skirmishes after whistles. The Nittany Lions earned another skater advantage when forward Kyla Josifovic was sent to the penalty box for roughing, which resulted in another kill.

Forward Mya Vaslet was also called for roughing, creating a six-on-four opportunity when the Huskies pulled Chan for an extra skater. Penn State completed the kill with under a minute to play and forward Abby Stonehouse added an empty–netter to secure a Frozen Four bid.

“Our class, we came in, and we’ve really redefined what Penn State hockey is,” DeSa said. “Hopefully we get the respect we deserve now and this hopefully can become the standard as well.”

Team leaders

Goals: Matilde Fantin, Tessa Janecke, Abby Stonehouse, 1

Assists: Nicole Hall, 1

Saves: Katie DeSa, 36/36

Up next: Penn State will make its first Frozen Four appearance against No. 2-seed Wisconsin on Friday.