UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 3 Penn State women’s ice hockey head coach Jeff Kampersal was named the 2026 CCM/AHCA Women’s University Division Coach of the Year on Thursday afternoon. It is the first national coach of the year honor for Kampersal.
The 2025-26 campaign has been a historic season for the Nittany Lions. Under Kampersal’s guidance, the program reached its first Frozen Four with a 3-0 victory against No. 6 UConn on March 14 at Pegula Ice Arena. It was also the program’s first-ever win at the NC Women's Ice Hockey Championship.
Penn State hosted a regional in the NC Women's Ice Hockey Championship for the first time in program history. The No. 3 ranking is the highest in program history.
With 33 wins on the season, the Blue & White have set a single-season record for the second season in a row. Over the past four seasons, PSU has amassed 113 victories, tying for the third-most in the country in that time frame.
Kampersal earned his fifth overall, fourth in a row, AHA/CHA Coach of the Year honor on March 5. This is his 11th time receiving a conference coach of the year honor after earning six in his time at Princeton.
The Nittany Lions won their fourth consecutive AHA/CHA Championship on March 7. The team won its fourth straight regular season title with a sweep of Delaware on January 23 and 24.
Kampersal reached the 500-win mark for his career against Delaware on January 23, becoming the fifth coach in history to reach the milestone. He owns an 183-90-41 record at Penn State and a 510-351-99 mark for his career.
This season, the program set an AHA record with seven postseason awards won, earned by six student-individuals. The team tied program records with nine All-AHA selections and four All-AHA First team honorees.
Counting the nine selections this season, Kampersal has coached 45 All-CHA/AHA honorees, five CHA/AHA Players of the Year, four CHA/AHA Rookies of the Year, three CHA/AHA Best Defenseman and three CHA/AHA Goaltenders of the Year.
Kampersal has coached nine Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award nominees, including Tessa Janecke, who became the program’s first Top-Three Finalist in program history this season. The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award ceremony will be at the HUB-Robeson Center at 12:30 p.m. with a live broadcast on NHL Network.
No. 3 Penn State will take on No. 2 Wisconsin on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the National Semifinal of the Frozen Four, hosted by Penn State at Pegula Ice Arena. The game will be preceded by a matchup between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 5 Northeastern at 4 p.m. Both contests will be broadcast on ESPN+. The winners will meet in the National Championship at 4 p.m. on Sunday with that game being broadcast on ESPNU.
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