No. 8 Women's Hockey Hosts No. 9 St. Lawrence to Begin 2025-26 Campaign

HISTORY

• The two sides have met the in the last two NCAA Tournaments, with St. Lawrence taking both matchups. 
• The Nittany Lions have never beaten St. Lawrence with a record of 0-9-1. 
• St. Lawrence ended the Blue & White's season last year with 4-1 victory in the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinals. 

SCOUTING THE SAINTS 

• St. Lawrence kicks off their regular season this weekend after playing an exhibition against Colgate this past weekend, winning 1-0. 
• The Saints are coming off a trip to the NCAA Regional Finals, falling to eventual runner-up Ohio State 6-1. 
• They lost to Colgate in the ECAC Semifnials in a 4-2 decision after sweeping Yale in the conference tournament quarterfinal round. The team earned a first round bye after finishing third in the regular season standings. 
• St. Lawrence lost its top five scorers from a season ago, Kennedy Wilson is the statistical leader in points returning for the Saints, posting 17 points last season. 
• The Saints bring in 11 new players, nine freshmen, and two transfers. 
• Goaltender Emma-Sofie Nordstrom returns for St. Lawrence after starting 36 of the team's 39 games a season ago. she posted a 19-12-5 record with six shutouts. Nordstrom has a career .933 save percentage and 1.89 goals against average. Last season she was tied for eighth nationally in shutouts, 11th in GAA, and 15th in save percentage. 

PICKED TO FOUR-PEAT

• The Penn State women's ice hockey team was selected atop the 2025-26 Atlantic Hockey America Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Senior forwards Tessa Janecke and Katelyn Roberts along with senior defenseman Kendall Butze and senior goaltender Katie DeSa were each named to the Preseason All-AHA team.
• Tessa Janecke was picked to win her third-straight AHA Player of the Year award while Roberts, Butze, and DeSa were each named to the Preseason All-AHA team.

 

 

RETURNING SCORERS

• The Nittany Lions return their top five scorers from a season ago, totalling 175 points which accounted for just under half of the Blue & White's 2024-25 offensive production.  

• Tessa Janecke returns for her final season in Happy Valley with a program-record 153 points under her belt.

• Katelyn Roberts and Maddy Christian combined for 68 points last season, returning as the two top forwards.

• The reigning AHA Defenseman of the year, Kendall Butze (27 points) also returns on the blue line.

• The Nittany Lions as a whole finished sixth nationally in scoring offense (3.55 goals per game) and second overall in scoring margin (2.00).

HISTORY MADE

• The Blue & White broke several program and conference records in the 2024-25 season. 

• They won 31 games, a program record after defeating Mercyhurst 4-1 in the AHA Championship.

• Their 19 conference wins was an AHA record for the most in a single season. 

• They also became the first team in CHA/AHA history to win the conference tournament three seasons in a row. 

WELCOME TO HOCKEY VALLEY

• Penn State welcomes eight newcomers to the program this fall with seven freshmen and one graduate transfer. 

• Taylor Lum is the lone grad transfer, coming from St. Lawrence. She posted 57 points in 129 games played over four seasons. 

• Lauren Hernick, Mikah Keller, Sophie Morrow, and Shelby Shane each hail from the United States. 

• Maddy Campbell and Danica Maynard each come from Canada. 

• Matilde Fantin joins  the Blue & White from Como, Italy.