UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State women’s hockey head coach Jeff Kampersal has been named the winner of the 2026 CCM/American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) Women’s Division I Coach of the Year.

This is the first time that the award has been won by Kampersal or a Penn State head coach. The honor comes after the Beverly, Mass. native led the Nittany Lions to a fourth consecutive AHA regular season and postseason championship, along with a berth to the program’s first-ever Frozen Four in 2026.

The Nittany Lions’ bench boss eclipsed 500 career coaching victories during the 2025-26 campaign, hitting the milestone on Jan. 23 in a 5-0 win over Delaware. Kampersal spent 21 seasons as the head coach at Princeton before taking the keys to the women’s program at Pegula Ice Arena nine years ago.

En route to the 2026 Frozen Four, the Nittany Lions broke both program records set in 2024-25 by reaching 22 conference wins and currently enter the national semifinals with 33 victories accumulated during the current campaign.

Under Kampersal, Penn State also saw its first top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2026, with senior forward and captain Tessa Janecke being named to the trio.  

The 1992 Princeton graduate was also the men’s hockey program's captain during his senior year in 1991-92. As a defenseman at the collegiate level, the 1988 New York Islanders 10th-round pick tallied 42 points (15G-27A) through 107 career games.

Penn State makes its Frozen Four debut against No. 2-seeded Wisconsin (WCHA) at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena.

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Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) is in its second season following the merger between the Atlantic Hockey Association and College Hockey America. The conference fields 10 Division I men's teams and seven women's teams. For more information, visit atlantichockeyamerica.com.

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