Penn State has been piling up the firsts this season, but none more important than the program's first ever berth to the women's hockey Frozen Four at the NCAA National Championships.
Penn State's win over UConn at the NCAA National Championships was historic on a number of fronts. It was Penn State's first ever win at the NCAA women's hockey National Championships. It was also the 33rd win of the season for the Nittany Lions, their winningest season ever.
Most importantly for the Penn State women's hockey team however, was that their 3-0 win over UConn in the regional finals, lifted the Nittany Lions to the first NCAA Frozen Four appearance in program history.
Katie DeSa's shutout over UConn, her 12th of the season is also most by any team or netminder in the nation.
Penn State is hosting the 2026 Frozen Four at Pegula Ice Arena from March 20-22, meaning they'll get to play out their historic season in front of their home crowd.
Their Frozen Four semi-final will take place on March 20 against Wisconsin. The Badgers are the reigning NCAA national champions and were ranked #1 in the nation for the entire season until Ohio State upset them in the WCHA finals.
Penn State has been led this season by Atlantic Hockey America First Team All-Stars Tessa Janecke, Grace Outwater, Kendall Butze, and Katie DeSa, and Second Team All-Stars Katelyn Roberts, Maddy Christian and Danica Maynard.
Janecke was an Olympic gold medalist with USA.
Atlantic Hockey America All-Rookie honors were also handed out to first year forward Mikah Keller, while fellow first year player Matilde Fantin has scored key goals and starred for Italy at the Olympics. Forward Nicole Hall also represented Sweden at the Olympics.
Penn State will enter the Frozen Four as decided underdogs against Wisconsin, but with their home crowd behind them, the Nittany Lions will look for a little more history.