A gold medal winner at the international level, an accomplished professional player, and a decorated collegiate hockey student-athlete, Melissa Samoskevich enters her third season with Penn State women’s hockey as an assistant coach and a driver of winning culture in 2022-23. Head coach Jeff Kampersal announced her hiring in the summer of 2020.
After joining the Nittany Lions, Samoskevich’s unique perspective on the game was an integral part of the Nittany Lions’ first-ever CHA regular season championship season in 2021-22, especially on the offensive end of the ice. Penn State shattered several program scoring records under her supervision of the forwards, including a 3.4 goals per game average that ranked fourth in the nation.
An electric playmaking forward herself, Samoskevich made her debut with the United States national team at the 2018 Four Nations Cup and later helped power the U.S. to a gold medal at the 2019 IIHF World Championship in Espoo, Finland. She scored a pair of goals over the seven-game stretch, including a game-tying goal in the third period of the opening round matchup against the host, Finland.
She has also excelled internationally at the U18 level with a gold and silver medal at the U18 IIHF World Championships. In the 2015 gold medal run, Samoskevich was tabbed the top U.S. player by her peers and named to the Media All-Star Team. Samoskevich also accumulated international competition experience as a six-time participant in the USA vs. Canada series in the U18 (2012-14) and U22 divisions (2015-16, 2018).
Samoskevich has also played professionally with the Premier Hockey Federation’s Connecticut Whale. In 2021-22, she scored a goal and an assist in seven regular season games before joining the Whale on their playoff run that saw them finish runner-up in the Isobel Cup finals.
A 2019 graduate of Quinnipiac, Samoskevich is recognized as one of the program’s all-time great players, finishing her career No. 4 on the career scoring list with 109 points on 54 goals and 55 assists.
She was selected to the 2016 ECAC All-Rookie team after a freshman season that included 32 points and eight game-winning scores, a total that ranked second in the nation. In her senior season, Samoskevich was named team captain and led Quinnipiac with 13 goals, including five game-winners. She graduated with a degree in history plus a minor in psychology.
A Sandy Hook, Conn. native, Samoskevich was selected second overall by the Connecticut Whale in the 2018-19 NWHL draft. She has contributed time and energy to on her local youth hockey environment as a coach for the Mid Farfield Stars Youth Hockey program.
After joining the Nittany Lions, Samoskevich’s unique perspective on the game was an integral part of the Nittany Lions’ first-ever CHA regular season championship season in 2021-22, especially on the offensive end of the ice. Penn State shattered several program scoring records under her supervision of the forwards, including a 3.4 goals per game average that ranked fourth in the nation.
An electric playmaking forward herself, Samoskevich made her debut with the United States national team at the 2018 Four Nations Cup and later helped power the U.S. to a gold medal at the 2019 IIHF World Championship in Espoo, Finland. She scored a pair of goals over the seven-game stretch, including a game-tying goal in the third period of the opening round matchup against the host, Finland.
She has also excelled internationally at the U18 level with a gold and silver medal at the U18 IIHF World Championships. In the 2015 gold medal run, Samoskevich was tabbed the top U.S. player by her peers and named to the Media All-Star Team. Samoskevich also accumulated international competition experience as a six-time participant in the USA vs. Canada series in the U18 (2012-14) and U22 divisions (2015-16, 2018).
Samoskevich has also played professionally with the Premier Hockey Federation’s Connecticut Whale. In 2021-22, she scored a goal and an assist in seven regular season games before joining the Whale on their playoff run that saw them finish runner-up in the Isobel Cup finals.
A 2019 graduate of Quinnipiac, Samoskevich is recognized as one of the program’s all-time great players, finishing her career No. 4 on the career scoring list with 109 points on 54 goals and 55 assists.
She was selected to the 2016 ECAC All-Rookie team after a freshman season that included 32 points and eight game-winning scores, a total that ranked second in the nation. In her senior season, Samoskevich was named team captain and led Quinnipiac with 13 goals, including five game-winners. She graduated with a degree in history plus a minor in psychology.
A Sandy Hook, Conn. native, Samoskevich was selected second overall by the Connecticut Whale in the 2018-19 NWHL draft. She has contributed time and energy to on her local youth hockey environment as a coach for the Mid Farfield Stars Youth Hockey program.