Records and relationships | Natalie Heising closing 5-year run at new heights

Over this past summer, Natalie Heising was faced with a major decision.

After the NCAA extended an extra year of eligibility to the athletes, Heising contemplated whether she’d return to Penn State after already giving four years to the blue and white.

But the Nittany Lion captain decided to run it back in Happy Valley for one last year.

“I love this team, I love Penn State, and given the opportunity, there was no question about it,” Heising said. “Last year, we had a really good season, and I wanted to build on that year and help this team grow another year as long as I had the chance to do it.”

The Wayzata, Minnesota, native came to Penn State in the 2017-18 season and immediately made her presence felt.

In her freshman season, she set the program record for goals in a season with 19, eclipsing Laura Bowman’s record of 18 goals in the 2016-17 campaign.

In that same year, she became the first player in program history to win CHA Rookie of the Year, finishing with 19 goals and 28 points.

Bowman, who never got the chance to play with Heising, was extremely excited she chose Penn State in the first place.

“I had the chance to have a conversation with her about Penn State, which was really nice,” Bowman told The Daily Collegian. “We were really excited to have her come to Penn State because she was a great addition, and she had a very good reputation for her skills.”

In the next two years, Heising elevated her play to new heights, tallying 28 goals and 49 points.

In her sophomore season, she was named to her first All-CHA first team and was invited to the 2019 U22 USA Hockey Women's National Festival.

In her junior year, Heising became just the second Nittany Lion after Bowman to take home CHA Player of the Month honors.

However, the team's success wasn’t there during her early years.

Come the 2020-21 season, though, the blue and white got a major addition to its lineup in the form of freshman forward Kiara Zanon, who immediately gelled with Heising.

The duo of Heising and Zanon was a driving force, propelling the blue and white to new heights and finishing with a 16-3-2 overall record.

Heising, in her first season being named captain as a senior, finished with 20 points in 17 games while becoming the first Penn State player to be named to All-CHA first teams multiple times in her career.

As for Zanon, she recorded 30 points in 21 games becoming Penn State's first-ever AHCA National Rookie of the Year and joined Heising as the only two Nittany Lions to be named CHA Rookie of the Year.

Now in her sophomore campaign, Zanon is second on the team in points, behind just Heising, but she leads the team in assists.

The Fairport, New York, native credits Heising with a lot of her success on the ice.

“She’s someone I looked up to before coming to school with Team USA, so having the opportunity to play with her last year was really special, and we did some great things,” Zanon said. “On the ice and off the ice [she’s] a good leader and a good person to look up to.”

Heising wasn’t the only big name to head to Happy Valley in the 2017-18 campaign — coach Jeff Kampersal also joined the program.

After coaching at Princeton for 21 seasons and leading the Tigers to two Ivy League Championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances, he was tasked with taking the Nittany Lions to the next level.

However, if anyone was up for the challenge, it was Kampersal.

He won ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year three times and Ivy League Coach of the Year twice at Princeton.

Kampersal did just that in the 2020-21 season, as his squad reached its first top-10 national ranking and he took home CHA Coach of the Year as well as being named an AHCA National Coach of the Year finalist.

Over the past few seasons, the coach and his captain have developed an extremely close relationship.

“COVID is not a great situation by any means, but to have an extra year with Natalie is one of the few positives of what is going on in our world,” Kampersal said. “She is an awesome person, player, and I’m glad she is a Nittany Lion.”

That relationship seems to regularly turn to matters off the ice, as Kampersal said they have had numerous conversations that start on hockey and transition into life.

The fifth-year Penn State coach, who ranks 10th all-time among women’s hockey coaches in career victories with 394, credits his star forward for why he’s still in Happy Valley.

“If it wasn’t for Natalie, I may not be here in the fifth year at Penn State,” Kampersal said. “That’s how much I have relied on her support and advice.”

Approaching the end of her time at Penn State, Heising has been the driving force for the blue and white offense, leading the team in points and goals.

This season has also been a season of milestones for the forward, becoming the third Nittany Lion to reach 100 career points and surpassed Bowman’s season point record of 32.

Despite having her records surpassed, Bowman is pleased they’re getting broken.

“I set those records in hopes that very quickly they would be broken,” Bowman said.

Heising sits just two goals away from breaking her goal record in a season, and she recently moved into sole possession of 15th place on the CHA scoring list.

With the season slowly nearing its end, Kampersal will forever be grateful for his time spent with his captain.

“I will be indebted to Natalie for the rest of my life, for sure, as we have both gone through ups and downs, and she has helped me personally through those ups and downs,” Kampersal said. “She is very humble, hardworking, a good student and just everything you want in a student-athlete.”