Wisconsin Wins NCAA Women’s Hockey Championship for the Eighth Time

Since 2019, Wisconsin and Ohio State have taken over the NCAA Women’s Hockey championship. There was no tournament in 2020 due to Covid-19, but Wisconsin won the crown in 2019, 2021, and 2023, while Ohio State won in 2022 and 2024. In 2023, Wisconsin beat Ohio State 1-0 to win the championship, while the Buckeyes returned the favor by the same score in 2024. Besides facing each other in the Frozen Four, the two schools are conference rivals in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) so are very familiar with each other.

On March 23rd, the two schools met for the championship for the third year in a row. Wisconsin came into the game with an incredible 37-1-2 record in the regular and post seasons; that lone loss was at Ohio State back in November. Ohio State entered the championship game with a 19-7-3 record.

Ohio State got off to a 2-1 lead in the first period, and extended that to 3-1 just 10 seconds into the second period. Wisconsin’s Caroline Harvey added a goal at 5:27 to bring the Badgers to within one, and the period ended at 3-2 Buckeyes.

It looked like it was going to end that way, but with 19 seconds left in the third, Wisconsin won a challenge that a Buckeye player put her hand on the puck in the crease, and the Badgers were awarded a penalty shot. In an unusual moment, Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson asked his squad “who wants it”? Forward Kirsten Simms stepped forward. She closed in on Ohio State goalie Amanda Thiele, made an outstanding fake to Thiele’s right, then put the puck in the net to Thiele’s left to tie the score. It went to overtime. At 2:49 of overtime, Simms scored the game winner and Wisconsin completed the comeback to win 4-3.

The Badgers extended their record number of championships to eight. All have been under Johnson, a former Badger himself who played on the men’s 1977 NCAA champion. Johnson played in the NHL from 1980-1990, but more famously, he was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic “Miracle on Ice” hockey team that upset the Soviet Union 4-2 and went on to win the Gold Medal. Johnson scored two of the four goals against the Soviets. He returned to the Olympics as coach of the U.S. Women’s team at the Vancouver games in 2010. That team won the Silver Medal. Johnson has coached the Badgers since 2002.