WINTHROP, Mass. – After a standout fifth season with the Penn State women's hockey team that saw her continue to shatter records and set new standards for the program, senior forward Natalie Heising has been named the 2021-22 CHA Player of the Year as announced by the league office Wednesday afternoon.
It is the first time Heising has been named CHA Player of the Year in her career and she becomes the second Nittany Lion ever to win the award along with teammate Kiara Zanon, the 2020-21 recipient.
Heising was also selected a CHA Co-Individual Sportsmanship Award recipient by the league. A three-time captain for the Nittany Lions, Heising's leadership, competitiveness, and willingness to do what it takes to win earned her the honor from the league for the second-straight season.
The Wayzata, Minn. native had arguably her best season ever as a Nittany Lion in 2021-22. She put together a 20-goal, 40-point campaign with both of those marks setting new Penn State single-season records.
On Oct. 24 at Brown, Heising assisted Zanon on a go-ahead goal in the second period to record her 105th career point to surpass PSU women's hockey standout Laura Bowman ('17) and become Penn State's new points leader.
A few weeks later in an overtime battle at Syracuse Nov. 19, Heising netted the game-winning overtime tally to also record her 62nd career goal, surpassing Bowman again as Penn State's all-time leading goal scorer.
At the end of the 2021-22 regular season, Heising has 74 goals, 63 assists, which is also tied with Amy Petersen's ('17) program record, and 147 points in a program-most 155 career games. Her 74 goals ranks 10th in CHA history and her point output ranks in the top 15 in league history.
Heising's playmaking and scoring were often critical for the Nittany Lions this season as indicated by her team-leading five game-winning goals. In addition to the OT winner at Syracuse, Heising scored another golden goal in the extra period to down Mercyhurst Jan. 28 just minutes after tying the game in the waning moments of the third period to tie the score and send the game to overtime.
Heising scored at least one point in 26 of 32 games this season and had two separate seven-game point streaks during the season. She enters the 2022 CHA Tournament with a five-game point streak.
Heising and the Nittany Lions start the 2022 postseason with a matchup against Mercyhurst in the CHA Tournament semifinals this Friday, Feb. 25, at Syracuse's Tennity Ice Pavilion starting at 4 p.m. The winner of that matchup with play for the CHA Tournament title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament Saturday at 2 p.m. in the same rink.
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