Penn State Women’s Hockey: Brenneman Gives Varsity Program First NWHL Draft Choice

Penn State women’s hockey goalie Jenna Brenneman was drafted by the Minnesota Whitecaps in the fourth round with the 24th overall selection in the 2021 National Women’s Hockey League draft Tuesday evening. The selection gives the varsity program its very first NWHL selection in its history. 
 
The Nittany Lions have produced professional players before, but Brenneman is the first Division I varsity player to be drafted by the NWHL which was formed in 2015.

Brenneman joins former teammate Jessica Adolfsson in the professional ranks after signing a contract with Linkoping Hockey Club in the SDHL back in April.
 
“Jenna is a competitor and culture driver,” said head coach Jeff Kampersal in a press release. “She had a great 2018-19 season for Penn State and helped turn our program around.  We’ll always be appreciative of her team-first attitude and wish her luck with the Whitecaps. I am glad she gets to go back home and play.”

Cassie Dunne, a member of Penn State’s club hockey team back in 2017 is the first Penn State affiliated student-athlete to sign an NWHL contract. Former defender Paige Harrington also briefly played in the NWHL but only skated for one season at Penn State before transferring to UMass for the remainder of her collegiate career.

As for Brenneman, she set single-season records for Nittany Lion goaltenders with 34 games played, 34 starts, and 2,030 minutes played while also tying a then Penn State record with 13 wins. She posted a 1.74 goals-against average with a .927 save percentage and tied another PSU record with four shutouts.