No. 3 Penn State 3, No. 6 UConn 0: Lightning Strikes Twice

[ASFN Admin]

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One year after the Penn State men’s team beat UConn to make their first Frozen Four, the women’s hockey followed suit with a 3-0 win over UConn on Saturday afternoon:

A victory in program history

We’re headed to the Frozen Four for the first time EVER! See you next weekend, #HockeyValley#WeArepic.twitter.com/3KS6vuhu9f

— Penn State Women’s Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) March 14, 2026

Matilde Fantin scored the opening goal of the game less than two minutes in when she deflected Nicole Hall’s shot past Tia Chan:

Hall Fantin puts us up early!#WeAre#HockeyValleypic.twitter.com/58UPF16WwP

— Penn State Women’s Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) March 14, 2026

Penn State pressured hard in the first period with their forecheck and outshot the Huskies 15-7, but Chan made several great saves to keep the game 1-0. UConn tilted the ice more in their favor in the second, but back-to-back penalties on the Huskies yielded more than a minute of 5-on-3 time for Penn State. UConn’s defense did a solid job of taking away as many of Penn State’s shooting lanes as possible and killed off the two-man advantage.

The game remained 1-0 deep into the third period when a puck handling error by Tia Chan allowed Tessa Janecke enough room to easily put home the insurance tally:

Tessa says thank you very much and doubles the lead!#WeAre#HockeyValleypic.twitter.com/xy5OrZHGIv

— Penn State Women’s Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) March 14, 2026

Abby Stonehouse sealed the game with an empty net goal in the dying seconds and a 3-0 win for Penn State. In her biggest game of the season, Katie DeSa made 36 saves in the shutout win.

Penn State now advances to their first Frozen Four, which will be held at Pegula Ice Arena. The Nittany Lions will face defending champion Wisconsin on Friday at either 4pm or 7:30pm. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. The full bracket can be found here.

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