Penn State Nittany Lions women's ice hockey
| Penn State Nittany Lions women's ice hockey | |
|---|---|
 Current season
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| University | Pennsylvania State University |
| Conference | CHA |
| Head coach |
Jeff Kampersel 1st (2017-18) year |
| Arena |
Pegula Ice Arena Capacity: 5,782 |
| Location | University Park, Pennsylvania |
| Colors | Blue and White |
Penn State Nittany Lions women's ice hockey is a college ice hockey program that has represented Penn State University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I and College Hockey America (CHA) since the 2012–13 season. The program was preceded by a club team that competed at the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division 1 level, primarily as a member of Eastern Collegiate Women's Hockey League (ECWHL). Penn State plays its home games at Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, Pennsylvania.
Penn State's first women's hockey team – a club team called the "Lady Icers" – began play in the 1996–97 season, after students Ellen Bradley and Kathy Beckford recruited players from around campus and Vinnie Scalamogna, the assistant manager of the Penn State Ice Pavilion (then the university's sole ice facility), as coach. The Lady Icers' first game, a 5–4 win over the Susquehanna Rockettes (an adult club team), took place on February 1, 1997. The team was intermittently successful over its 16 years of existence, winning six conference regular season or playoff titles and qualifying for the ACHA National Tournament six times, peaking with a third-place finish at the end of the 2001-02 season.
Penn State concluded its time in the ACHA in February 2012, with eventual NCAA leader Josh Brandwene as head coach. That season, the Lady Icers played a mixed schedule, featuring ACHA and ECWHL opponents as well as eleven games against NCAA Division I and Division III teams. PSU finished the year by claiming the ECWHL regular season title, but then losing to Rhode Island in the league's playoff championship game.
After years of speculation the program transitioned to the NCAA Division I level along with the PSU men's ice hockey team for the 2012–13 season. The move was made possible thanks to a Penn State-record $88 million (later increased to $102 million) donation, announced on September 17, 2010, from Terrence Pegula, a Penn State alumnus and billionaire hockey fan, and his wife Kim. The donation primarily paid for the completion of a new 5,782-seat, $89 million ice arena to replace the undersized and aging 1,350-seat Penn State Ice Pavilion, which was deemed inadequate for long-term NCAA play.Pegula Ice Arena opened in September 2013, after the Nittany Lions played their first NCAA season in the Ice Pavilion.
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