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.

Wisconsin's O'Brien Wins 2025 Kazmaier

The 2025 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner as the top player in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey is University of Wisconsin fifth-year forward Casey O’Brien.

O'Brien, a graduate student from Milton, Mass., leads the Badgers in scoring this season with 26 goals and 62 assists for 88 points in 40 games, the highest-scoring season of her five-year NCAA career. She is also the top scorer in Wisconsin hockey history, men and women, all-time with 94-175—269 points in 179 outings, and the sixth Badger to win the Kazmaier Award, the first since 2017. 

O'Brien's Wisconsin teammates, Laila Edwards and Caroline Harvey, were the other two finalists this year for the award, which is named for the late Princeton University star and all Ivy League honoree from the 1980s. 

Wisconsin (37-1-2 overall) will now face WCHA rival Ohio State (29-7-3) on Sunday (4 p.m. ET, ESPNU) in the national title game for the third straight year.

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.

Ohio State's Jaques Wins 2023 Kazmaier Award

Ohio State senior blueliner Sophie Jaques has been named the 2023 Patty Kazmaier Award winner, emblematic of the top player in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey. She is the first Buckeye ever to win the award, now in its 26th year. Other finalists this year were fifth-year forward Alina Müller (Northeastern) and senior forward Danielle Serdachny (Colgate).

Jaques, 22, from Toronto, posted 24 goals and 24 assists for 48 points in 40 games this season, placing her second on the Buckeye scoring scroll behind teammate Jennifer Gardner. Nine of Jaques' goals came on the power play, while she also posted a plus-37 plus-minus rating and just 14 penalty minutes as the Buckeyes won their first-ever WCHA regular-season title. 

For her five-year career, Jaques has collected 61-95⁠—156 points in 171 outings to go with 50 PIM and a plus-112. She has also led the Buckeyes to four NCAA tournament berths, two WCHA tournament titles, and last year's national title, the first in team history, when OSU bested WCHA rival Minnesota-Duluth, 3-2, in State College, Pa.

OSU (33-5-2 overall) will try to defend its NCAA title on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET (ESPNU) in the national championship game in Duluth, Minn. against WCHA rival Wisconsin. The Buckeyes advanced to the national crown contest with a 3-0 victory over Northeastern in the semifinals on St. Patrick's Day, while Wisconsin (28-10-2) edged Minnesota, 3-2, in overtime.