WINTHROP, Mass. - The Penn State women's ice hockey team was picked to finish first for the second straight season in the 2024 College Hockey America Preseason Poll on Friday morning.
Penn State earned 30 votes and all five first-place votes. Mercyhurst tallied 25 and one first place vote with Robert Morris, Syracuse, Lindenwood and RIT rounding out the final four.
Along with being voted first in the preseason coaches' poll as a team reigning CHA and National Rookie of the Year Tessa Janecke earned her second career preseason honor as she was named the Preseason Player of the Year which was voted unanimously by the other five head coaches.
Freshman Karolina Hengelmüller earned her first career preseason honor as she was selected as the association's Preseason Co-Rookie of the Year.
Headlining the coaches' Preseason All-CHA Team were Janecke and senior defenseman Lyndie Lobdell. Also receiving votes by the conference coaches were graduate forward Julie Gough, senior goaltender Josie Bothun, Hengelmüller, and graduate defenseman Maggie MacEachern.
Head coach Jeff Kampersal's squad finished the 2022-23 season with a 27-9-2 mark, while earning their second CHA regular season title, their first CHA tournament championship and making their first NCAA tournament appearance in program history. The team also place five on the All-CHA team including capturing four individual awards featuring Coach of the Year, Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Best Defenseman.
The Nittany Lions captured each of the possible first-place votes among opposing CHA head coaches, as coaches could not vote for their own teams. The full breakdown of the poll is listed below.
2023-24 CHA Preseason Coaches' Poll
| Rk. | Team (1st Votes) | Points |
| 1. | Penn State (5) | 30 |
| 2. | Mercyhurst (1) | 25 |
| 3. | Robert Morris | 23 |
| 4. | Syracuse | 15 |
| 5. | Lindenwood | 14 |
| 6. | RIT | 13 |
Coaches could not vote for their own teams. Based on a 6-5-4-3-2 scale.
Penn State begins the 2023-24 season on Saturday, September 23 when they take on Northeastern on the road at 3 p.m.
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