No. 3 Penn State women’s hockey (33-5-0, 22-2-0 AHA) beat No. 6 UConn (27-9-2, 17-6-2 HEA) 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at Pegula Ice Arena to move on to the Frozen Four.

A goal by Matilde Fantin in the opening moments of the game proved to be the difference maker, as well as a superb performance by Katie DeSa, who registered her 12th shutout of the season.

How It Happened

A faceoff win by Tessa Janecke kicked things off, and just 100 seconds into the game, Matilde Fantin deflected a Nicole Hall shot for the opening goal of the contest on the team’s first shot.

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

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

Hall looked to double the lead right after, but was turned down for Tia Chann’s first save. More offensive zone time for the Nittany Lions followed, and another great opportunity presented as a blast by Maddy Christian just met the blocker of Chann to keep the game 1-0.

The Huskies struggled to maintain puck control early on, with seven of the game’s first 10 shots belonging to Penn State. However, UConn had a great chance with around eight minutes left to play in the first, with Maya Serdachny getting behind the Nittany Lion defense but getting stuffed by Katie DeSa on her first real test.

Chann started to heat up late in the opening period, coralling a backhand shot by Janecke and two Grace Outwater rockets from point-blank range.

Early in the second, DeSa made some of her best saves of the day, deflecting a shot from the blue and covering up the rebound to keep UConn scoreless. Another Husky breakaway occurred soon after, but again DeSa was there to make the save.

Just under five minutes into the period, Penn State would go on the contest’s first power play after a hooking penalty on Megan Woodworth. Just over 30 seconds later, another Husky penalty gave the Nittany Lions a five-on-three opportunity.

Penn State unleashed a firing range on the power play, but plenty of blocked shots and timely saves by Chann helped UConn kill off both penalties and keep the Nittany Lion lead at one.

Yet another Husky breakaway came up short when Martha Mobarak skyed it over the net at around the halfway point of the period. Just minutes later, Chann came up huge again, blocking a Hall shot from in front of the net.

The goalies continued to trade great saves, with DeSa saving two good Husky looks with time running low in the middle period.

In the final minute, Chann made two more big saves, stopping Roberts and Outwater on a Penn State odd-man break, as the game stayed stagnant at 1-0 after two.

The final period was kicked off with a wrap-around attempt by Danica Maynard that Chann kicked away.

A little over three minutes into the third, Christian committed an interference minor to prevent a defensive zone turnover, sending Penn State on the penalty kill for the first time. Great defense by Kendall Butze and the rest of the Nittany Lions led to a successful kill.

Janecke’s speed sprung a Penn State two-on-one, but again, Chann made the kick save to keep the Nittany Lion captain off the scoresheet.

With just twelve minutes left to play, Fantin was sent tumbling in the neutral zone after a Husky trip, giving Penn State a third penalty chance. Chann led another kill for UConn, despite Fantin having two great chances from the left faceoff circle.

With six-and-a-half minutes left to play, Chann came out of the net to try and spring an outlet pass, but it proved to be a misplay. The Husky goalie fanned on the puck, leading to an interception by Janecke, who found the wide-open net to double the Nittany Lion lead.

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

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

Less than a minute later, Penn State would go on the power play again, benefiting from a UConn roughing penalty. The Nittany Lions couldn’t sustain much possession on the man-advantage, and the Huskies tallied their fourth penalty kill on the afternoon.

Mya Vaslet was sent to the box for roughing soon after, giving UConn life down two with a little over three minutes left to play. Chann would be pulled to start the power play to give the Huskies a six-on-four advantage.

DeSa made two nice kick pad saves on Kyla Josifovic early in the penalty kill, before a glove stop on Brooke Campbell’s shot from the blue line to ensure the Nittany Lion kill.

With 17 seconds remaining, Abby Stonehouse fired a shot at the empty net from the neutral zone, which proved to be the dagger for Penn State as the Nittany Lions escaped the Regional Finals with a 3-0 victory.

Takeaways

• It was a great day at the office for Katie DeSa, who pitched a shutout while facing 34 shots, the second-most she’s faced all year.
• It was a very physical game throughout, with 12 penalty minutes between the two teams and plenty of hits.
• The second line of Matilde Fantin, Mya Vaslet, and Nicole Hall played great, scoring the game-winning goal and applying pressure all afternoon.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will host No. 2 Wisconsin in the Frozen Four. The game is set for Friday, March 20, at Pegula Ice Arena. Puck drop time is to be announced, but the contest will be streamed on both ESPN+ and ESPNU.