Penn State women’s hockey learns matchup for NCAA Tournament

Penn State women’s hockey now knows its opponent and location for the opening round of the NCAA Tournament this week. The Nittany Lions are heading up north to Madison for the Wisconsin Regional to face No. 7 seed St. Lawrence in Thursday’s opening round.

Penn State women’s hockey makes second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance

Penn State is fresh off its second consecutive CHA Championship after taking down Mercyhurst 1-0 at Pegula Ice Arena last weekend. With the win, the Nittany Lions clinched their second NCAA Tournament berth in program history.

Penn State earned a No. 10 seed in the 11-team field and will face No. 7 St. Lawrence Saints in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 14, at 8:00 p.m. The Saints lead the all-time series 7-1-1, although the last meeting was a 4-2 Nittany Lion victory in Canton, NY, back in October 2022.

The regional will be hosted by the No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers, who will play the winner between Penn State and St. Lawrence in the second round.

Nittany Lions ready to take care of business

This week represents a potential next step for the Penn State women’s hockey program: winning an NCAA Tournament game. After falling 3-2 in triple overtime to Quinnipiac in the first round last season, a win this year would be a massive boost to the program’s perception and help with recruiting according to head coach Jeff Kampersal.

“We’re not going to just be happy to be there,” head coach Jeff Kampersal said last week of the upcoming matchup. “After last year’s game against Quinnipiac, we have business to take care of.”

Kampersal has previously spoken about his mission to make Penn State women’s hockey a top-five program nationally. A win this week would put the Nittany Lions on the map for top-level recruits across the country.

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