AHA Monthly Recap: January 2026

The AHA began the new year with a month of heartwarming moments, a shocking upset, and a record breaking outdoor game. It also made us feel the wrath of Mercyhurst and their seven game win streak.

Let's take a look at a fun but chaotic month.

Featured Game: Penn State vs. Mercyhurst on Jan. 10.

Penn State entered their series against Mercyhurst looking to bounce back after a sweep at the hands of Ohio State. After a month off, the Nittany Lions returned for three games in the span of five days and came out with one win. So their shutout win in game one against the Lakers was a great way to get themselves back on track. 

Mercyhurst had other plans for game two.

The teams entered the third period of the game tied at two thanks to two goals by Berlin Lolacher for MU. Though the Lakers had good defense to start the period, they killed off two penalties in the period. Penn State managed to score the go-ahead goal with less than six minutes left. Mercyhurst didn’t go down without a fight as they took advantage of a powerplay and added an extra attacker which saw that plan pay off with a Julia Perjus goal to tie the game at three with less than two minutes left in the game. 

In the same way they took advantage of the final minutes of regulation, the Lakers did so again in overtime. With less than two minutes left in overtime, Mercyhurst won key faceoffs and blasted shot after shot trying to find the back of the net. With 30 seconds left, the Lakers won another faceoff that helped them keep possession then set up senior Payten Evans with the game winner with 15 seconds left after Regina Metzler took the puck the other way and found Evans near the net. It was Penn State's first conference loss all season.

This win was part of an incredible January by Mercyhurst which saw the team end the calendar month on a seven game win streak. They also reentered the USCHO rankings on Jan. 19 appearing as the 15th ranked team in the nation.

All that’s left for the Lakers is to continue this win streak, finish out the regular season, and make it to the AHA championship next month.

Awards Season🏆

Best Player: Molly Henderson - Lindenwood

The senior had the second most points in the AHA in the month of January behind Mercyhurst's Sofia Nuutinen. But Henderson had four games where she scored three or more points! One of those games, against Delaware, led to Henderson’s first career hat trick too. With seven points and seven assists, Henderson was lights out for Lindenwood this month and as her collegiate career wraps up, why not add in her first-ever AHA Forward of the Month honor too!

Best Team of January: Mercyhurst

There’s really something interesting about Mercyhurst. They are one of only three teams in the NCAA to defeat Penn State. The Lakers had already been playing well before the holiday break and continued that hot streak into January. Their win against the Nittany Lions in the series finale set up the seven game win streak Mercyhurst went on this month. They also completed four sweeps, won nine of 10 games, and allowed only one goal in seven of their games. Those are some dazzling numbers for the team in second place in the AHA standings.

Best Goal of the Month: Kolbee Ashe

RIT’s Kolbee Ashe skated around everyone and scored. Effortless.

The AHA at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics

Six current AHA players were named to Olympic rosters before the games began on Feb. 5. Penn State has three players on Olympic rosters with Tessa Janecke representing the USA, Nicole Hall playing for Sweden, and Matilde Fantin representing the host country of Italy. Lindenwood has two Olympians in Lucie Quarto and Elina Zilliox who are representing France. While Mercyhurst has one Olympian, Finnish forward Julia Schalin.

On the coaching side, Syracuse head coach Brittni Smith is an assistant coach for Canada.

Janecke is the first Penn State player to ever be named to Team USA's roster while Schalin will be taking part in her first Games. Fantin is only a freshman but will already be making her mark on the world stage while Lindenwood continues to have a roster that has players from many different countries who can use their development with the Lions in international tournaments.

You can learn more about Janecke and Schalin in the feature stories below.

Penn State’s Tessa Janecke Makes Childhood Olympic Dream Come True

Penn State star Tessa Janecke wrote down “I want to be an Olympian” as a goal when she was a child. Now the 21-year-old is accomplishing that objective at this year’s Winter Olympics.

The Ice GardenGiselle Velazquez

2026 Olympics Profile: Mercyhurst and Finland National Team Forward Julia Schalin

Get to know Mercyhurst’s Julia Schalin who will represent Finland at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

The Ice GardenGiselle Velazquez

Congrats to all the AHA representatives at this year's Winter Olympics!

Interesting Storyline

Penn State celebrated senior day on Jan. 24 and ended the night with another AHA regular season title.

The Nittany Lions defeated Delaware behind a 7-0 win and celebrated with an other title, their fourth straight. The night saw senior goalie Katie DeSa become the program's all-time shutout leader with her 21st career one that night. Team USA forward Tessa Janecke scored two goals in the game which extended her point streak to eight games before departing for the Olympics. Grace Outwater scored her 18th goal, which is now the most goals scored by a sophomore in program history. Defender Kendall Butze also reached a milestone by reaching 84 points that night, which is tied for most points by a defender in program history. After all was said and done, Penn State celebrated the win with their seniors on the ice.

The following week, the Nittany Lions had another reason to celebrate. They took part in an outdoor game against Robert Morris University at Beaver Stadium. That day they set a new single-game record for women’s hockey with 1,838 in attendance to watch the two teams play. PSU posted another shutout with a 3-0 win. Just six days after setting a new shutout record, DeSa extended it against RMU. Penn State went on to sweep the weekend.

Notable Moments

• To start the new year, Lindenwood named three new assistant captains on Jan. 1. Congratulations to the three lions for being awarded letters!
• Mercyhurst’s Sofia Nuutinen reached 100 career games played on Jan. 10.
• Penn State’s goalie duo of Katie DeSa and Maddy Campbell set some cool records. DeSa reached 22 career shutouts while Campbell has the most shutouts for a first year with four so far. Talk about brick walls in net!
• Syracuse had a sweet surprise for its seniors on senior day

• Abby Poitras scored a goal with 1.6 seconds left in the Jan. 17 game against Lindenwood. She scored her first goal as a Laker on Jan. 3. All four of Poitras’ goals this month were game winning goals.
• Her game winners were part of a trend for Mercyhurst where for three consecutive weekends, a defender scored the ot winner against a conference opponent.
• Penn State recorded their seventh win against a ranked opponent this season when they beat Cornell on Jan. 20 with a 5-1 win.
• Delaware’s Kaitlin Finnegan and Katelynn Charlton are the first two players to reach double digit points for the program.
• The Lakers’ goaltender Magdalena Luggin made a total 41 saves in her appearances against RIT in mid January.
• Nittany Lions defender Kendall Butze set a new program record with 66 career assists on Jan. 17; the most by a defender in program history.
• Former Syracuse defender Akane Hosoyamada is representing Japan at the Olympics.
• Delaware’s Bailey Gray scored her first career goal on Jan. 17 while her teammate Ida Havve scored her first collegiate goal on Jan. 31.
• Tessa Janecke scored her 75th career goal on Jan. 3. She set a new program record for most career goals.

• Lindenwood recorded back-to-back hat tricks when Molly Henderson recorded the first in her career on Jan. 16 then freshman Tatiana Blichova did the exact same the following day.

• Syracuse held their annual Skate with the Orange event

• Syracuse’s Ava Drabyk and RMU’s Maggie Hatch were named to the HCA Women’s Goalie of the Year watch list. You can read more about each of them here

The HCA National Women’s Goalie of the Year Award Watch List is Out. Here’s Who to Keep an Eye On.

Giselle went through the list of 31 goalies chosen by the HCA and picked out some of the best.

The Ice GardenGiselle Velazquez

Something You May Have Missed

Syracuse celebrated Emmy Day on Jan. 3rd in their game against Delaware. Emmy Day was created through a partnership between Syracuse and Team IMPACT. Prior to the start of the 2024-25 season, Emelia “Emmy” Phillips signed a “National Letter of Intent” with the women’s team and has been part of the team since. This was the second annual event where Emmy, 6, was celebrated by the team. The Orange won that game 4-0.

You can learn more about Team IMPACT here.

Looking Ahead

The AHA regular season ends on February 14 and I am looking ahead to Mercyhurst's final series against Syracuse. The Lakers can their 2024-25 overall record of 20-17-2 with a sweep of the Orange. The team is currently on a seven game win streak and the chance for them to reach 22 wins this season is not out of the questions. We'll have to see how Mercyhurst after their bye week as they look to end the regular season on a high note.

The final games of the regular season take place this weekend: check out the schedule here