The University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team (28-1-2, 22-1-2 WCHA) dominated the Minnesota Golden Gophers (22-8-1, 16-7-1) on Saturday, winning 8-2 and securing the regular season WCHA title.
Wisconsin came into this game with all the momentum, having not yet lost at their home rink, LaBahn Arena, this season. Today was also the Badgers’ senior day, where they honored their 6 seniors — Casey O’Brien, Katie Kotlowski, Lacey Eden, Marianne Picard, Quinn Kuntz and Sarah Wozniewicz.
Behind a two-goal effort from both O’Brien and junior Laila Edwards, the Badgers powered through the Golden Gophers for their 28th win of the season, securing the WCHA title for the first time since 2021.
The game started fast, with an early power play for Wisconsin that shifted the momentum right from the start. After a strong kill for Minnesota, the Badgers bounced right back with a goal from Edwards, her 27th of the season, to give them an early lead.
Seconds later, Eden burst down the ice for a breakaway goal, giving Wisconsin their second goal in 30 seconds. Hoping to prevent a blowout, the Golden Gophers tried to shift the momentum on the power play. But, after two minutes of the one-woman advantage, they ended with zero shots.
.sno-67ab629213890 {
background-color: #ffffff;border: 5px solid #888888;box-shadow: -1px 0 2px 0 rgb(0 0 0 / 12%), 1px 0 2px 0 rgb(0 0 0 / 12%), 0 1px 1px 0 rgb(0 0 0 / 24%);width: calc(100% – 40px); margin: 30px auto !important; float: none;}
.sno-67ab629213890 h5 {
color: #000000;
}
A few minutes later, Minnesota got the chance they were looking for from a long pass breakaway goal for Ella Huber on their first shot of the game to make the score 2-1. But the Badgers ended the first period with a goal from another senior, Picard.
The Badgers returned from the first intermission strong, with an opening goal from freshman Maggie Scannell, which was soon followed by another from Edwards, her second of the game.
Following a Minnesota timeout, national leading scorer O’Brien netted her 19th goal of the season, making it three seniors with goals on the night. The assist on O’Brien’s goal from Caroline Harvey tied her for the Wisconsin single-season record for points by a defender, with 49.
The Badgers ended the second period leading 6-1 but had lost some players along the way. Sophomore defensive pair Ava Murphy and Laney Potter both exited the game due to apparent injury, causing head coach Mark Johnson to shuffle around his lines toward the end of the second and into the third period.
Minnesota entered the third period with a goalie change, shifting away from Hannah Clark. This didn’t deter the Badgers, though, as they continued with a quick goal from O’Brien.
But, the Gophers weren’t willing to go down without a fight and Sydney Morrow quickly bounced back with a goal for Minnesota. The last-ditch effort wasn’t enough, though, and the Badgers won 8-2 against the 3rd ranked team in the country.
This decisive win secured their spot as regular season champions in the WCHA, as Minnesota was their only threat to that title. Despite tons of recent success for the Badgers, this marked the first time since 2021 they had secured this regular season title.
The seniors enjoyed hoisting the Julianne Bye Cup, which is awarded to the team that wins the regular season title, while being honored for their college careers, before finishing the last three games of the regular season this week.