In her fourth season at Penn State, Tessa Janecke has all but cemented herself as the greatest player in Nittany Lion women’s hockey history.
She holds the program record with 82 career goals and counting. She was the national Rookie of the Year in 2023. She’s been the conference Player of the Year and a second-team All-American in both her sophomore and junior campaigns. She’s additionally been a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given annually to the top Division I women’s hockey player, in each of the past two years.
But on Thursday, she’ll mark one more accomplishment off that brilliant resume — perhaps the biggest one.
Janecke will skate as a member of Team USA in Milan, Italy, for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The Penn State senior is no stranger to the international scene, where she’s racked up 38 games with the senior national team. But this one means just a bit more, especially considering she became the first in Penn State program history to be named to the U.S. Olympic team.
“It’s pretty special to get to be the first to do that,” Janecke said. “I think I was just kind of relieved, finally knowing who was going to get to go and what our team was going to look like.
“I was pretty excited. I got to call my parents and have that moment with them as well. But it was very cool, and it meant a lot to celebrate that with some of my teammates.”
Maybe surprisingly, considering Penn State women’s hockey’s quiet dominance over recent years, Janecke’s Jan. 2 qualification for the American squad made her just the second-ever Olympian in program history. She joined Sweden’s Jessica Adolfsson in 2022.
However, the 2025-26 roster has since added to that group, sending Matilde Fannin (Italy) and Nicole Hall (Sweden) to this year’s Games.
Janecke will aim to help the United States bring home the gold medal for the first time since doing so in 2018 in PyeongChang, Korea. The Americans took home silver in 2022, falling to Canada in the gold medal match.
But Janecke has some experience in overcoming the neighbors to the north. She scored the game-winning goal in overtime against Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Championship.
That marked her second gold medal with Team USA in World Championship contention, adding to the 2023 first-place prize. Janecke and the U.S. also finished second in 2024.
Team USA’s march to reclaim gold begins at 10:40 a.m. EST on Thursday against Czechia. The Americans, in Group A, will then work through preliminary matchups against Finland, Canada and Switzerland before the quarterfinals begin on Feb. 13.
Should Janeceke and Co. continue to advance, the semifinals will be held on Feb. 16 and the final on Feb. 19.
“For our team, nothing is going to change. We’ve gotta go in there with the right mindset. There can’t be a moment that’s gonna be too big or one that we’re not prepared for,” Janecke said. “I think it’s just going to be us channeling out excess noise with us winning the last world championship — just us focusing on our group.”
If there’s one detracting factor to Janecke’s qualification, it’s that she, Fannin and Hall have had to depart State College and won’t contribute to the No. 4 Nittany Lions for the home stretch of another strong season.
Janecke said she expects to miss about a month, running up against the start of the conference tournament on Feb. 27. Penn State will be defending three straight conference titles.
However, the Lions already began taking care of business without their star trio. They swept Robert Morris at home this past weekend, including Friday’s historic game inside Beaver Stadium. They’ll finish regular-season action with series against Lindenwood and RIT.
“Obviously I’m going to be missing games, but I have confidence in our team that they’re gonna be just fine,” said Janecke, who will at least return for the NCAA Tournament on March 12, assuming Penn State qualifies. “Honestly, I think they’ll play even harder knowing that I’m gone.”
For now, it’s time for the Illinois native to chase history.
“This was always my dream, from when I was little, going to college games and seeing those college players on national teams, who I’m now playing with,” Janecke said. “No dream’s ever too big, if you can set your mind to something and work hard for it.”