Jennifer Wakefield

Biography

Jennifer Wakefield enters her third season on the Penn State coaching staff in 2026-27. In her first two seasons in Hockey Valley, the team set a new program record for single season wins in both years. PSU earned its fourth-straight AHA Tournament title after securing its fifth consecutive regular season championship in 2025-26. Wakefield helped the Nittany Lions to a historic campaign in 2025-26. After their fourth repeat as AHA Tournament Champions, the team earned the no. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, hosting their first-ever game in the big dance. Penn State won its quarterfinal matchup over UConn to advance to the program’s first Women’s Frozen Four which was hosted inside Pegula Ice Arena. The Nittany Lions set new single-season program records in seven categories throughout the momentous campaign. The team earned a slew of awards in Wakefield’s second year in Happy Valley. In addition to nine All-Conference selections, Penn State earned five major AHA awards including Tessa Janecke, who repeated as the Player and Forward of the Year. Janecke was also tabbed to first team All-USCHO and garnered first team CCM/AHCA All-American honors. Freshman Danica Maynard earned a third team All-USCHO nod and was placed on the All-Rookie team. Multiple Nittany Lions collected AHA postseason honors in Wakefield’s first season with the program. Janecke earned AHA Player and Forward of the Year, Kendall Butze was named AHA Best Defenseman and Katie DeSa took home AHA Goaltende