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College Hockey America Season Review

Final Horn
  • Penn State Repeats as CHA Regular Season and Postseason Champion: The Penn State Nittany Lions swept the College Hockey America regular season and postseason titles for the second year in a row in 2023-24. 
    • The Nittany Lions rolled to their third CHA regular season title in four years this season with a 14-4-2 record in CHA play to earn the top seed in the CHA Postseason.
    • PSU swept RIT in the semifinals before downing 13-time postseason champion Mercyhurst, 1-0, in overtime in the CHA Championship to claim their second-consecutive postseason crown and NCAA Tournament berth. 
  • Penn State's Coomey Named First Head Coach at Delaware: The University of Delaware has selected Penn State associate head coach Allison Coomey as the first head coach of the Blue Hens’ new women’s ice hockey program, the University announced March 26.
    • Coomey comes to Newark after spending the past seven seasons at Penn State. She served as an assistant coach for three seasons before being promoted to associate head coach in 2020-21. 
    • She will begin her duties at Delaware on April 1, 2024. The Blue Hens will debut as the CHA’s seventh member the 2025-26 season.
  • Penn State's Janecke Earns All-America Honors: Penn State sophomore Tessa Janecke has been named to the 2023-24 CCM/AHCA All-America second team announced by the American Hockey Coaches Association on March 23.
    • Janecke, who won College Hockey America’s Meghan Agosta Player of the Year Award and Vicki Bendus Forward of the Year Award and was a Patty Kazmaier Award Top-10 Finalist this season, is the 13th All-American in CHA history.
    • Including Janecke, 10 players have been named the CCM/AHCA All-America Team since the conference’s founding. Previous honorees include Mercyhurst goaltender Desi Clark (2004-05), Mercyhurst forward Meghan Agosta (2006-07, 2007-07, 2008-09, 2010-11), Niagara goaltender Allison Rutledge (2006-07), Wayne State forward Melissa Boal (2007-08), Mercyhurst forward Vicki Bendus (2009-10), Mercyhurst forward Jesse Scanzano (2009-10), Mercyhurst forward Christine Bestland(2013-14), Robert Morris forward Brittany Howard (2017-18) and Penn State forward Kiara Zanon (2020-21).
  • Nystrøm and Bothun Among CHA Career Save Leaders: Mercyhurst's Ena Nystrøm and Penn State's Josie Bothun ended the 2023-24 season among the top 10 goaltenders in CHA history in career saves.
    • Both Nystrøm and Bothun surpassed the 2,000-save mark this season and reached 2,400 saves, which has landed both of them in the CHA top-10 in that category. Nystrøm ended her Laker career at 2,602 saves, which ranks No. 6 in conference history while Bothun is ninth at 2,417 stops. In terms of school history, Nystrøm's total ranks No. 1 among Mercyhurst's CHA-era goaltenders. Bothun ranks No. 2 in Penn State history behind Nicole Paniccia (2,469- 2010-14).
  • Bothun Breaks CHA Career Shutouts Record: Penn State senior Josie Bothun blanked RIT, 4-0, on Jan. 12 for her 20th career shutout. The blanking moved Bothun into sole possession of first place on the CHA career shutouts list, moving her past previous record-holder Ali Binnington of RIT, who recorded 19 shutouts for the Tigers from 2011-15. 
    • The win was also the 70th of Bothun's career, which moved her into an exclusive group with Mercyhurst's Hillary Pattenden (100- 2008-12) and Laura Hosier (74- 2004-08) as the third CHA goaltender to reach 70 victories.
  • CHA in the National Rankings: Penn State finishes the season at No. 13 the final USCHO and USA Hockey/The Rink Live polls released March 25 and 26, respectively.
 
Looking Ahead
  • College Hockey America and Atlantic Hockey to Merge: The Atlantic Hockey Association and College Hockey America will merge operations beginning with the 2024-25 college hockey season.
    • Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America have shared a commissioner and conference staff since 2010 but have operated as separate entities with their own boards of directors and by-laws.
    • The conferences operated separately for the 2023-24 season and will officially merge operations prior to the start of the 2024-25 season.
  • Delaware to Become the CHA's Seventh Member: College Hockey America will grow to seven schools with the addition of the University of Delaware beginning with the 2025-26 season, the CHA Board of Directors announced Dec. 1.
    • In late 2023, Delaware’s leadership voted to add women’s ice hockey as its newest Division I sport. The new Blue Hen program will be the university’s 14th women’s team and 22nd athletic program overall. The Blue Hens will be the 45th women’s NCAA Division I ice hockey program when they take the ice in 2025-26.
    • Delaware will begin play in the 2025-26 season and will join Lindenwood University, Mercyhurst University, Pennsylvania State University, Robert Morris University, Rochester Institute of Technology and Syracuse University as a voting CHA member on July 1, 2024. 
 
By the Numbers 
  • 1,130: Saves made by Syracuse goaltender Allie Kelley in 2023-24. The total ranks No. 3 in CHA history and second nationally this season.
  • 53: Points scored by Penn State sophomore Tessa Janecke this season. The total ranks No. 11 nationally and is tied for 20th on the CHA single-season scoring list.
  • 34: Points scored by Mercyhurst freshman Sofia Nuutinen this season, which tied for second nationally among rookies. 
  • 19: Goals scored by Robert Morris freshman Alaina Giampietro, which tied for second nationally among freshmen and tied for ninth-most among freshmen in CHA history.
  • 10: Wins by RIT goaltender Sophia Bellina this season. The total is the most by a Tiger netminder since Terra Lanteigne won 12 games in 2018-19. 
  • 7: Program records set by Lindenwood's Morgan Neitzke in 2023-24 - career points (93), career goals (47), career shorthanded goals (five), shorthanded goals in a season (five), points in a season (46), goals in a season (24) and assists in a season (22).