The Wisconsin Women’s Hockey team will be beginning their National Championship defense on Sept. 26, against Bemidji State. The Badgers won the championship game against the rival Ohio State in overtime in March, with the season-ending goal by then-junior Kirsten Simms. These two teams will have a chance to rematch this season in December and again in February.
Wisconsin certainly has a lot to prove this season, especially since being ranked No. 1 in the WCHA in the preseason coaches poll, and seeing senior Caroline Harvey named the preseason WCHA player of the year.
“We’ve got a good mix of young [and] some veteran experience … [there’s] the same level of hunger nonetheless, you can feel the excitement around the locker room,” Harvey said.
Is a repeat National Championship in the Badgers’ future? The 2025-26 team will consist of 20 returners, including stars Harvey, fifth year Lacey Eden, senior Laila Edwards, Simms and last year’s top goalie junior Ava McNaughton.
But, there are some notable absences. Lost to graduation were Sarah Wozniewicz, Katie Kotlowski, and Casey O’Brien. O’Brien is likely the biggest loss, as she had a record-breaking season in 2025, culminated by winning the coveted Patty Kazmaier Award for being the top Division 1 women’s hockey player.
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Former linemate of O’Brien, Edwards, weighed in on what her loss meant to her and to the team, saying O’Brien was one of the easiest players to play with and while her loss will be huge, Edwards is confident of the abilities of the rest of the team to step up.
Luckily, the team has some promising newcomers they hope can fill the gap left by the graduating class.
Younger sisters of junior Kelly Gorbatenko, freshmen Nicole Gorbatenko and Rachel Gorbatenko, are among the exciting new class of Badgers. Alongside them include freshmen Rhyah Stewart, Mackenzie Jones, Charlotte Pieckenhagen and Adéla Šapovalivová.
Šapovalivová was picked in the preseason poll to be the WCHA rookie of the year and has an impressive resume. This includes being named the tournament MVP at the 2022 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship — a tournament she eventually earned a silver medal in (2024), putting up similar stat lines to now-teammate Edwards and two bronzes at the IIHF Women’s World Championships (2022 and 2023) as a member of the senior team for her home country of Czechia.
In the offseason, the Badgers had a lot of accolades and opportunities come their way. 16 Badgers, including active players Eden, Edwards, Harvey, McNaughton and Simms participated in the IIHF Women’s World Championship in April.
Senior Vivian Jungels, juniors Gorbatenko, Laney Potter and Cassie Hall, and sophomore Maggie Scannell were all named to the U.S. Collegiate Women’s Select Team as well. And, notable alumna Brianna Decker was announced as one of the newest members of the Hockey Hall of Fame, set to be inducted in November.
As proven time and time again, the Badgers, especially under head coach Mark Johnson, have incredible amounts of talent on their team. Since the creation of the new women’s professional hockey league, the PWHL, 15 former Badgers have been signed to a team.
Some notable players include Hilary Knight and Sophie Shirley of the Boston Fleet, Mellissa Channell, Britta Curl and Natalie Buchbinder of the Minnesota Frost, Ann-Renée Desbiens of the Montréal Victoire, Wozniewicz of the Ottawa Charge, Abby Roque of the New York Sirens, Daryl Watts, Blayre Turnbull, Sarah Nurse and Kristen Campbell of the Toronto Scepters.
As shown by the Badgers’ strong history, a national championship this season is almost expected from fans and analysts alike. The talent of the current roster has the potential to play professionally and join the 15 Badgers in the PWHL and are expected to take steps towards that career this season.
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Looking ahead to the first game of the season against Bemidji State, the Badgers will be hoping for a big game to set the tone. Bemidji State finished last season with an overall record of 6-30-1, which was last in the WCHA. They played four regular season games against the Badgers and lost all four, only scoring two goals in total.
In the WCHA quarterfinals, they played their only games of the tournament against Wisconsin as well, losing both and ending the 2024-25 season losing 0-11 in Madison. Bemidji State will be looking to avenge their last game back in March and will be hoping to start the season out better than last year.
Johnson is very aware of the expectations placed on the team this season.
“We finished last season in a really good spot … it makes that bullseye on our chest a little bit bigger than it normally is,” Johnson said.
But, he is expecting the Badgers to come out firing against Bemidji State and is looking for a competitive pace from his team for the full 60 minutes.