UNIVERSITY PARK, PA — Tessa Janecke returned to Pegula Ice Arena on Friday — the building where she had spent the past four years playing and helping develop the program from the ground up. But this time, she wasn’t stepping out on the ice in skates. Instead, she wore sneakers, jeans, and a white quarter-zip and carried a special memento.
Joined by six fellow former Penn State teammates and recent PWHL draftees, Janecke dropped the ceremonial puck ahead of the Nittany Lions’ game against Ohio State.
The program-defining 2026 graduating class was greeted by applause and cheers from fans in attendance.
Ceremonial puck drop
Seven of the eight graduating seniors last season declared for the 2026 PWHL draft, and all seven were selected. Janecke, Penn State’s former captain, went 3rd overall, becoming the first-ever player selected by expansion team PWHL Vegas.
Janecke finished her four-year Penn State career with 201 points on 89 goals and 112 assists, setting program records in all three categories. Her 201 points are the most ever by any Penn State hockey player, men’s or women’s. She also holds Penn State records for shots on goal, plus/minus, multi-goal games, and several per-game scoring categories.
As a senior in 2025-26, Janecke recorded 48 points (26g, 22a) in 31 games, helping Penn State reach its first Frozen Four in school history. She also became the program’s first top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, given annually to the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey, and won Atlantic Hockey America Player and Forward of the Year for the third straight season.
Internationally, Janecke has racked up the accolades as well. Beyond winning gold with Team USA in 2026, she’s appeared in three IIHF Women’s World Championships. In 2025, she buried the game-winning overtime goal to secure gold for Team USA.
The other players to join Janecke on the ice included defenseman Leah Stecker (drafted 27th overall, Boston Fleet), forward Maddy Christian (33rd overall, Minnesota Frost), goaltender Katelyn DeSa (37th, Vancouver Goldeneyes), forward Katelyn Roberts (43rd, New York Sirens), defenseman Kendall Butze (49th, PWHL Las Vegas), and forward Mya Vaslet (66th, PWHL Hamilton).
The seven signed autographs for fans during the first intermission, drawing nearly the entire arena to their line.
Olympic gold medalist, and Janecke’s Team USA teammate, Megan Keller was also in attendance, drawing quite the line herself as she looked on at the autograph session.
Keller, a defender for the Boston Fleet, was months removed from scoring the golden goal for the United States in overtime, defeating Canada in the Gold Medal Game at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
The PWHL players all got to watch a competitive and inspired effort from the next generation of Penn State women’s hockey, who lost to Ohio State 2-1 in a tightly-checked game. According to head coach Jeff Kampersal, all of the seven returners’ parents were in attendance. Many of the draftees and their parents were also at the team’s season opener on Thursday.
“We’re trying to create, like, a family atmosphere,” Kampersal said after the game. “The fact that they can come back and feel comfortable to come back is really special. That means more to me than any kind of like on-ice success.”
Janecke, DeSa, and Butze have been training at State College for a while, skating at Pegula Ice Arena in the mornings. Occasionally they are joined by some current players, and Janecke has also worked with some younger players on faceoffs.
“That wisdom will be huge for them,” Kampersal said. “When [the team] can lean on, when they reach out to the olders and say ‘Tessa can you come and help,’ that’s a positive.”
Next season, Janecke will reunite with former Team USA teammates Lacey Eden, who hails from Annapolis, MD, and Haley Scamurra on PWHL Vegas, playing under first-year head coach Kim Weiss, a Maryland native.
Janecke’s team-building in Happy Valley will be relied upon as she joins one of the PWHL’s most recent expansion teams.
“For me, like, that is why I chose this school (Penn State),” she said in a 2025 Roar+ interview. “And why, maybe I didn’t chose to go to Wisconsin or Minnesota, that are very big in women’s hockey. I wanted to, like, make this place better than when I got here, and I feel like Penn State has allowed me to do that. “My goal was to be like ‘well you think we’re a bad team, well I’ll show you that we’re not.’ That’s just like the kind of person I am.”
PWHL training camps will kick off on November 18. Janecke, Eden, Scamurra, and PWHL Vegas kick off the 2026 preseason against the Minnesota Frost on November 22nd.
