Feb. 21, 2018
By Briana Zuccarelli, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Senior Hannah Ehresmann exemplifies what it means to take advantage of every opportunity that Penn State has to offer.
This past Friday through Sunday, Penn State held its annual Dance Marathon, THON. THON is a 46 hour no sitting no sleeping dance marathon and has over 16,500 volunteers each year to raise money for the fight against childhood cancer. One of the crowd favorites of THON is the Saturday night Pep Rally. The Pep Rally gives sports teams the opportunity to come up with funny, creative dance routines in hopes to be crowned the champion of that year's contest.
"I've definitely been looking forward to dancing at THON this year," said Ehresmann last week prior to the big weekend. "We've been able to perform three out of the four years that I've played for Penn State. This year definitely should be interesting and we've thrown a little curve ball in there by using some of our equipment."
The team took the stage shortly after 7:30 p.m. on Saturday after their 2-0 win against RIT. The team did a remix from the movie Pitch Perfect and had the spectators laughing in enjoyment. Ehresmann explained the importance of the team being involved throughout the community and what it means to the team.
"We had THON game earlier this year and it was always a privilege to play in and see the support of the fans," Ehresmann said. "We love it as a team and I know the fans love it. It's so fun to see how excited the little girls and boys are to see us and be with us to see our personalities; they love getting pictures."
Ehresmann shared that being able to see the improvement of kids during their post-game skates is always fun because she has seen some of the same people since her first time on the ice at Penn State. Head coach Jeff Kampersal shared the love the team has for the post-game skates.
"I think our kids are an awesome group and I know they do a lot in the community," Kampersal said. "I personally am a huge fan of the skates and the players genuinely love to do it and love to be involved."
Ehresmann has also noticed a lot of improvement with herself over her time here at Penn State. She first began to play hockey when she was in second or third grade, where she first found out her love of playing goalie.
"I was the only girl on my team at the time, so they didn't make me play goalie," said Ehresmann. "But on my last game, I asked if I could play it and ever since then I have been in love with it. I think all my experiences and all the people I met while being here really shaped who I am. I've changed a lot over the four years and I've definitely learned a lot of life lessons."
During her time playing for Penn State, Ehresmann has made 1,916 saves. Not only does she make an impact on the ice, but she also has been a CHA All-Academic team member for the past three years. She is an accounting major at Penn State and says it is just something that her family has always done.
"I chose accounting because it has been within my family and we have a family accounting firm back in Minnesota," said Ehresmann. "It's kind of what my family does; My brother is an accountant and so are my cousins. My grandpa started the firm 40 years ago and it's just what we all do."
Coach Kampersal emphasized the time Ehresmann puts in to be the best she can be, whether taking a million shots or possessing the right amount of confidence to help her succeed. The younger goalies on the team, like freshman Chantal Burke, look up to Ehresmann and recognize the type of person she is on and off the ice.
"Hannah has one of the strongest work ethics I've seen," said Burke. "It pushes me to work that much harder to get better so I can be at that same level. She had a very high level of focus and you can see it through her confidence on the ice."
When off the ice, Ehresmann can be found filling her teammates up on various foods before or after practice. Burke explains that Ehresmann will come into practice with baked goods for the team like banana bread or an assortment of cookies.
"She's so sweet," Burke said. "Her treats are delicious and everyone just loves to dig in."
This act of kindness is something that teammate will miss about Ehresmann and a part of the fun legacy she wishes to leave upon leaving Penn State. She says she hopes the younger girls see what she does on and off the ice and take it all in.
"I think it matters for goalies to stay level headed," Ehresmann said. "I hope they noticed throughout the year that you just need to compete for every puck and never give up. Even if you're having an off day, you need to mentally restart and get back to it. I want for them to enjoy it all because it goes by really fast."
Ehresmann will look to continue her legacy playing for the Minnesota Whitecaps upon graduating from Penn State.