U.S. Women Win Third Straight Olympic Game

Joy Dunne (Ohio State), Alex Carpenter (Boston College) and Caroline Harvey (Wisconsin) notched a goal and an assist each as the U.S. Women's Olympic team blanked Switzerland today, 5-0, in Group A play at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy. 

Gwyneth Philips (Northeastern) earned the shutout by stopping all 20 shots she faced for the Americans, while Andrea Braendli (Ohio State) made 45 saves for the Swiss. Team USA is now 3-0-0 overall and will next face archrival Canada, which defeated Czechia, 5-1, as Julia Gosling (St. Lawrence) scored two goals and Brianne Jenner (Cornell) collected two assists.

Badgers Win 2025 Women's Hockey NCAA Title

Kirsten Simms scored on a penalty shot with 18.2 seconds remaining in regulation, then converted a rebound less than three minutes into overtime to lift top-ranked Wisconsin to a 4-3 victory over No. 2 Ohio State in the 2025 NCAA Division I Women's Hockey national championship game at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. 

It is the eighth national title all-time for the Badgers, the most-ever in women's college hockey history, and their second in three seasons. It was also the eighth national title for head coach and former NHL forward/1980 U.S. Olympic hero Mark Johnson, who now has 667 career wins, all at his alma mater.

Simms finished with two goals and an assist on the afternoon, and scored the tying goal after Wisconsin was awarded a penalty shot after an official video review determined that an OSU player had covered a loose puck in the Buckeye crease with a glove. She then put home the rebound of a Lacey Eden shot just 2:49 into the extra session to end it.

Eden recorded two assists for Wisconsin (38-1-2 overall), which overcame a 3-1 deficit early in the second period, while Laila Edwards had a goal and an assist for the Badgers, who also won both the WCHA regular-season and tournament titles. Joy Dunne, who notched the game-winning goal for OSU (29-8-1) in last year's national title game, opened today's scoring with a shorthanded goal in the first nine minutes of regulation. Amanda Thiele finished with 31 saves in net for the Buckeyes, while Ava McNaughton made 20 stops for the Badgers.

It was the third straight season that OSU and Wisconsin, the top two teams in the NCAA and WCHA, had met for the national title. Wisconsin won in 2023, and OSU in 2024, both by 1-0 scores. The Buckeyes were seeking their third NCAA title in school history. The 2026 women's Division I Frozen Four will be played at Penn State's  Pegula Ice Arena in State College, Pa.

OSU, Wisconsin to Meet Again for NCAA Women's Hockey Title

For the third year in a row, the NCAA Division I women's ice hockey national title game will pit Ohio State against Wisconsin.

Defending national champion and second-ranked OSU advanced to Sunday's title game (3 p.m., ET, ESPNU) with a 4-2 win over Cornell today in the first NCAA semifinal at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. Joy Dunne scored the only two goals of the third period for the Buckeyes, who also got a goal and two assists from Makenna Webster. 

No. 1 Wisconsin (37-1-2 overall) punched its ticket to Sunday with a 6-2 victory over host Minnesota in tonight's nightcap. Laila Edwards scored three goals for the Badgers, while Caroline Harvey tallied one goal and set up three others. Both Edwards and Harvey, along with teammate Casey O'Brien, are finalists for the 2025 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the nation's top women's player, with the winner to be announced tomorrow (NHL Network, 12:30 p.m. ET).

OSU (29-7-3) advanced to this year's Frozen Four by routing St. Lawrence in the quarterfinal round, while Wisconsin bested Clarkson. The Badgers also won this year's WCHA tournament, while the Buckeyes were eliminated by Minnesota in the conference semifinals. Wisconsin won this year's head-to-head WCHA regular-season series with OSU with two wins, one loss and one tie (shootout win by OSU).

The Buckeyes beat the Badgers in last year's national title game in Durham, N.H, while Wisconsin edged OSU in the 2023 championship in Duluth, Minn., with both games decided by 1-0 scores. OSU is seeking its third national title ever, and third in four years, while Wisconsin is vying for a record eighth NCAA crown overall, and fourth in the last six seasons.

OSU Wins 2024 NCAA Women's Hockey Title

Joy Dunne's goal with just over seven minutes remaining in regulation was all Ohio State needed in a 1-0 victory today over Wisconsin in the 2024 NCAA Division I women's hockey national title game at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H. The Buckeyes avenged last year's loss to the Badgers by the same score in the national championship game, along with a 6-3 loss to Wisconsin on March 9 in the 2004 WCHA championship contest.

Boston College transfers Hanna Bilka and Cayla Barnes assisted on the goal by Barnes, the WCHA Rookie of the Year, her 24th score of the 2023-24 season. Raygan Kirk stopped all 26 shots she faced for Ohio State (35-4-0 overall), while Ava McNaughton made 27 stops for Wisconsin (35-6-0). 

It was the second national title in three years for OSU, both under head coach Nadine Muzerall. The Buckeyes also defeated Minnesota-Duluth and Clarkson University in the NCAAs this month, before winning their rematch on Sunday against the Badgers.

OSU outshot Wisconsin, 28-26, on the afternoon, while also winning 34 of 63 faceoffs. There were no penalties called, and no power plays in the game. Next year's NCAA Frozen Four will be held at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, where the Buckeyes will look to make the national semifinals for the fifth straight season.

Clarkson Outlasts Princeton, 3-1

Connor McCarthy set up the first goal of the evening, and then salted away the game with a late goal of his own in Clarkson's 3-1 win at Princeton in ECAC Hockey play on Saturday night at Hobey Baker Rink.

The fifth-ranked Golden Knights (22-6-2 overall, 15-3-0 ECAC Hockey) also got 32 saves from goaltender Frank Marotte in winning their fifth straight contest overall, and seventh in their last eight outings. Princeton has now lost five of its last six games, despite 29 stops from Tigers netminder Jeremie Forget.

Following a scoreless opening period, Josh Dunne connected on a power play midway through the second stanza to give Clarkson a lead it would never relinquish. Brian Hurley then tallied what proved to be the game-winning goal just over seven minutes later, also with a man advantage.

Jeremy Germain scored from the slot a little over two minutes into the third period to pull Princeton (4-17-4, 2-13-3) within a goal, before McCarthy iced matters by wristing home a shot from the left faceoff circle 10 minutes later. Clarkson finished 2-for-3 on the power play, while negating all three Princeton man-advantage attempts.

Clarkson will host Harvard and Dartmouth next weekend, while Princeton will visit Union and RPI.