Wisconsin Wins 2026 NCAA Women's Title

Claire Enright scored the tiebreaking goal with just over six minutes remaining in regulation, and the University of Wisconsin won its second straight NCAA Division I women's hockey national title with a 3-2 victory over archrival Ohio State University on Sunday in State College, Pa. It was the fourth straight meeting in the national title game between Wisconsin and OSU, with the Badgers now having won three of those.

Kelly Gorbatenko and Laney Potter staked Wisconsin to a 2-0 lead before the game was eight minutes old, with Adéla Šapovalivová assisting on both goals for the Badgers. The score remained unchanged until Kassidy Carmichael and Joceyln Amos tallied just over two minutes apart early in the third period for the Buckeyes, setting the stage for Enright's heroics with the final goal of her college career.

Ava McNaughton stopped 34 shots for the Badgers (35-4-2 overall), whose top-ranked power play went scoreless in six opportunities. Hailey MacLeod made 31 saves for the Buckeyes (36-5-0), who won 43 of 71 faceoffs overall but saw their 10-game winning streak dating back to Feb. 13 snapped.

It is the ninth national title overall for Wisconsin, all since 2006 with head coach and Badger alumnus Mark Johnson at the helm, and the most among NCAA schools all-time since the NCAA women's Division I tournament began in 2001. OSU, which won this year's WCHA title game over Wisconsin, was seeking its second national crown in three years, and third overall.

Also for Wisconsin, senior blueliner Caroline Harvey took home the Patty Kazmaier Award earlier in the week as the top NCAA Division I women's hockey player this season. The New Hampshire native, who helped the U.S. to a gold medal at last month's 2026 Olympic Winter Games, finished her final collegiate campaign with 18 goals and 46 assists for 64 points in just 33 games. She is the seventh Badger to win the Kazmaier Award, the most of any school, since its inception in 1998.

U.S. Women Win 2026 Olympic Gold

For the second time in three Olympic Winter Games, the United States has won gold in women's ice hockey.

Megan Keller (Boston College) slipped home a backhander just over four minutes into the 3-on-3 overtime to lift Team USA to a 2-1 victory over Canada in today's women's ice hockey gold medal game in Milan, Italy. The U.S. last won women's hockey gold in 2018 in Pyeongchang, with Canada winning four years ago in Beijing. It is the third gold medal all-time for the American women.

Keller's game-winner came after Team USA tied the game with just over two minutes remaining in regulation on an extra-attacker goal. Team captain Hilary Knight (Wisconsin), playing in her fifth and final Olympics, tipped home a shot by rookie Laila Edwards (Wisconsin) to push the contest into the extra session. For Knight, it was her 15th career Olympic goal, tops among American women all-time. Keller also assisted on Knight's goal, after Kristin O'Neill (Cornell) had put Canada ahead, 1-0, early in the second period on a shorthanded goal.

Aerin Frankel (Northeastern) stopped 30 shots for the Americans, while Ann-Renee Desbiens (Wisconsin) made 31 saves for the Canadians. The two rivals combined to go 0-for-4 on the power play before 11,171 on-lookers at Milano Santagiulia Arena. The U.S. finished the tournament 6-0-0, while Canada's only two loses came to the Americans.  

Team USA's Caroline Harvey was named Olympic MVP and Best Defender after tallying two goals and seven assists for a tournament-high nine points in her second Olympics. She helped the U.S. to a silver medal four years ago as rookie.

Switzerland defeated Sweden, 2-1, in OT in this year's bronze medal game, with Alina Muller  (Northeastern) notching the game-winning goal. It was the first Olympic medal for the Swiss women since they also won bronze in 2014 in Sochi.

BC Tops BU in First Meeting of Season

Boston College raced out to a 3-0 lead and held on for 4-1 victory at Boston University tonight in Hockey East play. It was the first of three regular-season meetings between the MBTA Green Line rivals, with a home-and-home scheduled for Feb. 27-28.

Andre Gasseau, Dean Letourneau and James Hagens recorded a goal and an assist apiece for the Eagles (14-8-1 overall, 10-5-0 HEA), who have won three straight games, and five of their last seven outings. Louka Cloutier finished with 33 saves for BC, which also got an empty-net insurance goal from Brady Berard late in regulation. Jack Harvey scored the lone goal for BU (12-13-1, 8-10-0), while Mikhail Yegorov made 17 stops for the Terriers.

Both BC and BU will take part in the first round of the annual Beanpot Tournament on Monday at TD Garden in Boston. BC will meet Harvard in the opening game, while defending champion BU will face Northeastern in the nightcap, with both contests to be televised on NHL Network. The consolation and championship games will take place on Feb. 9.

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.

Canada Wins 2024 Women's Worlds

Danielle Serdachny (Colgate) scored on the power play just over five minutes into overtime Sunday night, to lift Canada over the rival United States, 6-5, in the gold medal game of the 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship in Utica, N.Y. The victory marked a record 13th WWC title for Canada, while the host U.S. was seeking its 11th such crown since the tournament began back in 1990.

Caroline Harvey (Wisconsin) tied the contest at five apiece on her goal with just over five minutes remaining in regulation, after Canada had taken the lead with two consecutive goals. Harvey also had an assist for a two-point night, as did teammate Laila Edwards (Wisconsin). Hilary Knight (Wisconsin) tallied a power-play goal to put the U.S. ahead, 4-3, while Aerin Frankel (Northeastern) made a total of 24 saves in net for the Americans.

Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin (Boston University) led all players in the game with two goals, while teammate Erin Ambrose (Clarkson) notched a goal and an assist. Ann-Renée Desbiens (Wisconsin) finished with 19 stops in goal for Canada in the win.

Next year's WWC will be held in the Czech Republic.

U.S. Blanks Canada at Women's Worlds

Kirsten Simms (Wisconsin) scored the only goal of the game as the United States edged Canada, 1-0, in overtime in the preliminary round of the 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship in Utica, N.Y.

Simms connected on a wrist shot less than four minutes into the extra session at the Adirondack Bank Center. Assisting on the goal was Caroline Harvey (Wisconsin), while Aerin Frankel (Northeastern) earned the shutout for Team USA with 26 saves, and was also named Player of the Game.

The U.S., which is seeking its second straight Worlds gold medal, finished 4-0-0 in the preliminary round, the best record in Group B. The Americans will begin quarterfinal play on Thursday against an opponent to be named.

U.S. Wins 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship

The United States rules the women's hockey world once more—for now, at least.

Powered by a hat trick from Hillary Knight (Wisconsin), including her 100th career point in international play, the Americans upended host Canada, 6-3, on Sunday in the gold medal game of the 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship in Brampton, Ont.

Brianne Jenner (Cornell) scored twice to helped stake Canada to a 3-2 lead after two periods, but Caroline Harvey (Wisconsin) tallied early in the third stanza to tie it before Knight connected twice to put the U.S. up, 5-3, with her first goal serving as both the game-winner and her 100th career international point. Cayla Barnes (Boston College) then closed out the scoring to lift Team USA to its 10th world title overall, and first since 2019. Either Canada or the U.S. has won gold in each of the 22 Women's World Championships contested to date.

Aerin Frankel (Northeastern) made 24 saves in goal for the Americans, while Ann-Renee Desbiens (Wisconsin) had 16 stops for the silver-medal Canadians. Desbiens was named the tournament's Best Goalie, while Harvey was tabbed as Best Defender and Sarah Fillier (Princeton) earned Best Forward accolades. Czechia won the bronze medal for the second straight year, after again defeating Switzerland.

Next year's Women's World Championship will be contested in Utica, N.Y.