AHA Monthly Recap: February 2026

The AHA regular season has ended and here we'll recap the final two weeks of the regular season including how Lindenwood was the team of the month, we'll check in on the AHA Olympians, and share a heartwarming story about a sisterly duel that was a perfect end to the season.

Final Standings

The final standings ended with Penn State finishing first overall with Mercyhurst in second place. Those two teams will be on a bye until the semifinals best-of-three playoff series begins on Feb. 27.

Third place Lindenwood, who finished with their highest finish ever, will wait out the winner of seventh place Delaware and sixth place RMU on Thursday, Feb. 19 before finding out their opponent for the quarterfinal single round game on Feb. 21.

Syracuse, who finished fifth, will travel to fourth place RIT to face the Tigers just two weeks after last playing them.

Four teams will meet in the semifinals from Feb. 27 to March 1 with the championship game taking place on March 7.

You can check out the preview for the first round and quarterfinals here.

[PLEASE ADD THE LINK TO THE PLAYOFF PREVIEW IN THE WORD HERE THANK U]

Now with all that cleared up, let's jump into the recap.

Featured Game: Syracuse vs. RIT on Feb. 7

No one knew the weekend series between the Orange and the Tigers on Feb. 6-7 would be a postseason preview, but it was.

The two teams played a home-and-home series with the weekend ending in a split but RIT's ability to put together a great response after losing in overtime in game one, shows what we can expect from the Tigers come playoff time.

The offense was awakened on Saturday. Even though the final score read 4-2 in RIT's favor, their forwards put in work. Linda Rulle finished with two goals, Addie Alvarez recorded three assists, while Tilli Keraenen had one goal and two assists for three points. The Tigers even recorded two power play goals in the game too. Everything was going right that day for Rulle, Keraenen, and Alvarez. Two of the three players (Rulle and Keraenen) would follow up that great performance with another when RIT beat Penn State on Feb. 13. Keraenen even had an assist on the overtime game winner from Cassie Barnes to sink the Nittany Lions.

While the regular season is now over, RIT will face Syracuse on Saturday in the AHA quarterfinals in hopes their offense will carry them into the semis.

Awards Season🏆

Best Player: Tilli Keranen - RIT

Keranen a point in all four of RIT's games to end the regular season and had at least two points in three of those games. The first year forward finished the regular season with eight points in the final four regular season game. Though the Tigers finished the season splitting both of the weekends, her four point weekend against Syracuse is huge given RIT plays them this weekend in the AHA quarterfinals. Expect to see Keranen's name on the scoresheet in the conference playoffs.

Best Team of February: Lindenwood

The Lions ended the regular season with a sweep of RMU that had them finish in third place in the conference. It was their first road sweep of the season. They also recorded the most goals in a game with eight in game two against the Colonials on Feb. 14. Hannah Dods, Molly Henderson, and Zsofia Pazmandi all recorded two goals in that final game of the season. Head coach Taylor Wasylk finished with the most wins in a single season for a head coach.

Things went really well for the Lions in February.

Best Goal of the Month: Grace Outwater

Outwater had a goal streak that reached nine goals but ultimately ended on Feb. 13. Nonetheless, she scored this great goal against Lindenwood on Feb. 6 which showed what happens when a player is in the right place at the right time.

The AHA at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics

Six current players in the AHA took part in the 2026 Winter Olympics. While four of them were not able to medal, they were still able to take part in the Games. Matilde Fantin who represented Italy on home ice finished the Olympics with three pionts, all goals, in five games. Lindenwood's Elina Zillox and Lucie Quarto appeared in all four games for France. Julia Schalin of Mercyhurst played in all five games for Finland and recorded one point. Team USA and Penn State captain Tessa Janecke will be playing in the gold medal game against Canada on Thursday.

Team USA Blanks Sweden 5-0 to Advance to Gold Medal Game

Team USA is off to the gold medal game after shutting out Sweden, who will now play for bronze, 5-0.

The Ice GardenLydia Murray

Janecke has played in all six games so far for the Americans and has five points, all assists. She will be going for her first Olympic medal that day.

Her teammate at Penn State Nicole Hall will play for a chance at the bronze medal early Thursday before the gold medal game. The sophomore has played in all six of Sweden's games and will try to win a medal at this year's Games.

Interesting Storyline

When Delaware finished their inaugural season on the weekend of Feb. 6-7, it was a huge moment for all of the Blue Hens to accomplish the very first Division I regular season for the university. For Delaware freshman defender Taylor Schooley the final games were that much more meaningful. She ended the season playing against her older sister and RMU junior defender Kaitlyn. The family connections don't end there: the Schooley sisters' dad, Derek, is the head coach of the men's team at Robert Morris too.

The Schooleys hosted Delaware for a team dinner before the series kicked off that weekend and Taylor was in the starting lineup to commemorate her return to her hometown of Moon Township, Pa. Kaitlyn scored a goal on Feb. 7 which also happened to be her 100th career game, and the two will face each other again in the AHA First Round game on Thursday in St. Louis.

Notable Moments

Penn State's Katie DeSa was named a semifinalist for the HCA 2026 Women’s Hockey Goalie of the Year Award for the second straight season. The senior is the only goalie from the conference to be named a semifinalist. DeSa finished the regular season with a 23-3-0 record along with a .933 save percentage, a 1.36 goals against average and 10 shutouts which is the most in the nation. The Nittany Lions will return to play on Feb. 27 in the AHA semifinals best-of-three series against an opponent that has yet to be determined.

• RMU'S Laura Eustace reached 100 career games played and scored a goal in that game too.
• Mercyhurst's Regina Metzler played for the Wörthersee Trophy in Austria earlier this month and helped lead Hungary to the win.
• RIT's Brenna McNamara was the winning goaltender for the team when they defeated Penn State on Feb. 13.
• Nittany Lions forward Grace Outwater extended her goal streak to nine games before it ended on the 13th.
• Lindenwood's Claudia Castellanos took part in the Three Nations Tournament on Feb. 6.

You can read more about Castellanos in this story from December in both English and Spanish.

The Road Less Traveled: Claudia Castellanos’ Journey from Spain to Lindenwood University

Claudia Castellanos is the first player from Spain in NCAA Division I history, and though her college career is just starting, her journey has been anything but typical.

The Ice GardenGiselle Velazquez

El Camino Menos Viajado: Claudia Castellanos y su camino desde España a la universidad de Lindenwood

Claudia Castellanos es la primera Española jugando en la primera división de hockey sobre hielo universitario. Aunque su carrera universitaria apenas empieza, su viaje no ha sido nada típico.

The Ice GardenGiselle Velazquez

• Syracuse beat the Lakers in a shootout on Feb. 13 thanks to Ava Drabyk who was stellar in the shootout and Emma Gnade who won it for the Orange.
• Mercyhurst's unbeaten streak reached nine games after they tied with Syracuse on Friday and beat the Orange 7-0 on Saturday.
• Tara Bach recorded a 31 save shutout in that game.
• Lindenwood finished the regular season in third place, after sweeping RMU, their highest finish ever, and head coach Taylor Wasylk set a program record for most wins in a single season on Friday.
• It was also Lindenwood's first road sweep of the season.

• RMU's Maggie Hatch recorded her sixth shutout of the season on Feb. 7. She finished second in the AHA in shutouts, and tied the program record for most shutouts in one season.
• Hatch has nine shutouts in total in her career which ranks second in progarm history.
• Syracuse's Jessica Cheung scored the game winner against RIT on Feb. 6 but then the Tigers came back to beat the Orange the following day thanks to huge games from Addie Alvarez, Linda Rulle, and Tilli Keranen.
• Penn State's Katie DeSa recorded her 10th shutout on Feb. 7 which is the most in a single season in program history.
• Shelby Shane also of Penn State scored her first collegiate goal.
• Her teammate Katelyn Roberts recorded her 100th career point on Feb. 14.

• Morgan Giannone scored the Teddy Bear toss goal for RMU on Feb. 13 and the team had a skate with their fans after the game.
• Jessica MacKinnon had a career high four assists in the game against Delaware on Feb. 7.
• The Colonials celebrated their seniors before Saturday's season finale.

• Penn State's Danica Maynard finished the regular season with 31 points which is the second most in the nation.
• Delaware's Francesca "Franki" Barresi became the third member of the 10 point club on Feb. 6.

You can learn more about Barresi in this story from October.

Delaware’s Francesca “Franki” Barresi Was Destined for the Ice

Francesca “Franki” Barresi’s dad knew she was destined to be a hockey player when she was three months old thanks to a Senators game on TV. Now the 18-year-old is helping shape the brand new Delaware hockey program.

The Ice GardenGiselle Velazquez

Something You May Have Missed

RIT freshman Cassie Barnes was the hero on Feb. 13 when she scored the game winning goal against fourth-ranked Penn State with a little over a minute to go in overtime.

The win marked the first home loss of the season for the Nittany Lions and the first win at Penn State for the Tigers in over 12 years.

Looking Ahead

The AHA playoffs kick off on Thursday with a matchup against seventh place Delaware and sixth place Robert Morris University. While the quarterfinals will include the winner of that first game facing Lindenwood and Syracuse battling RIT in game two.

You can check out all the info for the playoffs here.

See you for the AHA first round/quarterfinals preview story right after this!