Scout Bio
One of the winningest and well-respected coaches in women’s ice hockey history, Jeff Kampersal has taken the Penn State women’s hockey program to new heights and now enters his sixth season at the helm of the Penn State program in 2022-23. The 2020-21 CHA Coach of the Year and AHCA National Coach of the Year finalist led a record-breaking Nittany Lion team to its first CHA regular-season championship in 2020-21 and has amassed 34 wins over the last two seasons, the most over two years in program history.
His coaching excellence at both the collegiate level and the international level with USA Hockey has brought a steadying veteran leadership to the up-and-coming Nittany Lions. Kampersal currently ranks sixth in career victories among active Division I women’s hockey coaches with 397, a total that also ranks sixth all-time.
The Nittany Lions set a new program best with 18 wins in the 2021-22 season and had two student-athletes – Natalie Heising and Kiara Zanon – break the single-season program scoring record. Penn State’s stellar defensive group also had 10 total shutouts on the season to break a program record of seven set back in 2019-20. The 2021-22 season also saw the Nittany Lions defeat the eventual national-runners up, Minnesota-Duluth, in a 3-2 thriller Nov. 26 at D1 in D.C.
Penn State’s 2020-21 team secured its first No. 1 seed in the College Hockey America tournament, its first top-ten national ranking in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls, and broke several team records both offensively and defensively. Seven of his players on the 2020-21 squad received All-CHA honors, also a program record. Under Kampersal’s direction, two Nittany Lion freshmen broke through as a pair of the nation's top performers.
Kiara Zanon became the first Patty Kazmaier finalist in team history and was named the WHCA National Rookie of the Year while teammate Josie Bothun was chosen as the team’s first national goalie of the year finalist while also being named the USCHO.com National Rookie of the Year. These two players in addition to several other key contributors elevated their play and bought into an unselfish team culture that led to the Nittany Lions' title season.
Kampersal’s team has prided itself on good habits, sound defensive structure, and toughness since his arrival in 2017. Penn State’s increased competitiveness has resulted in marquee program victories of late, including the aforementioned 3-2 win over Minnesota Duluth in Nov. 2021 and a win over fifth-ranked Colgate, 4-2, in 2018-19, the highest-ranked win in program history.
Kampersal’s arrival impacted Penn state immediately on the ice in his first season in 2017-18, when Penn State allowed a CHA-best 1.92 goals per game, an improvement of more than a goal per game from the previous season.
In addition to his on-ice guidance, Kampersal has built and sustained a program culture of excellence both in the classroom and in the community. Since Kampersal’s arrival in Hockey Valley, Penn State women’s hockey recorded back-to-back perfect academic progress rates according to the latest NCAA APR reports, which measure eligibility, retention, and graduation of the program’s student-athletes. The Nittany Lions have also had 66 All-CHA Academic team honorees and 78 Academic All-Big Ten winners during his tenure.
A pair of team captains under Kampersal have gone on to receive prestigious Penn State student awards. 2018-19 team captain Kelsey Crow was the recipient of Penn State’s Eric A. Walker Award, an award given to a graduating Penn State senior who has best represented the university through extracurricular activities and community service. Three-time captain Natalie Heising (2019-22) was awarded PSU’s John W. Oswald honor in 2021-22 for her outstanding leadership and representation of Penn State throughout her collegiate career.
Kampersal was named Penn State head coach on June 1, 2017. The head coach of the Princeton Tigers for 21 seasons, Kampersal garnered ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year honors three times and Ivy League Coach of the Year accolades twice.
He guided the Tigers to two Ivy League Championships (2005-06 & 2015-16) and two NCAA Tournament appearances (2005-06 & 2015-16).
Kampersal’s student-athletes earned 68 All-Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Hockey honors, 54 All-Ivy League selections, five Patty Kazmaier Award nominees, and two American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) All-America plaudits.
During his final two seasons at Princeton, Kampersal guided the Tigers to a 42-19-5 cumulative record that included the 2016 Ivy League Championship and an NCAA Tournament at-large berth.
The 2016-17 campaign saw Princeton compile an overall record of 20-10-3, falling to eventual national champion Clarkson in the ECAC Tournament semifinals. During the season, the Tigers recorded seven wins over ranked teams, had a Patty Kazmaier top-10 finalist, the USCHO.com National Rookie of the Year, six All-Ivy League members, and four All-ECAC members, including the Goalie and Rookie of the Year. Princeton was ranked No. 9 in the final 2016-17 USCHO.com poll.
In 2015-16, Kampersal directed Princeton to its winningest season in program history to date. The Tigers compiled a 22-9-2 record, won the Ivy League title, had an NCAA Tournament bid and Kampersal earned Ivy League and ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year honors.
Kampersal’s experience as a coach with USA Hockey includes guiding the USA Women’s Hockey Under-18 Team to silver medals at the 2013 and 2014 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Women’s U18 Championships. He also served on the coaching staff of the USA Women’s Select Festival from 2004-06.
A 1992 Princeton graduate with a degree in psychology, Kampersal served as the men’s hockey team’s captain as a senior. An All-Ivy League and All-ECAC selection, Kampersal was awarded the 1941 Championship Trophy, given to the Princeton player who best represents the winning spirit of the 1941 championship team.
From Beverly, Massachusetts, Kampersal played high school hockey at St. John’s Prep in Danvers, Massachusetts, and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2009.
A 10th-round selection of the National Hockey League’s New York Islanders in the 1988 entry draft, Kampersal played for the ECHL’s Richmond Renegades and the AHL’s Capital District Islanders.
Kampersal and his wife, Eileen, have a daughter, Keira, and a son, Jack.