Friday, March 20, 2026

Frozen Four Semifinals: Wisco, OSU on Another Collision Course

WCHA Rivals to Meet in Fourth Straight NCAA Title Game

Frozen Four Semifinals: Wisco, OSU on Another Collision Course
Kirsten Simms scored the overtime winner in Wisconsin’s semifinal win over Penn State (Photo: UW Athletics).

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Perhaps it was always inevitable.

Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) rivals Ohio State and Wisconsin will meet in the NCAA Frozen Four championship game for a fourth year in a row after the Buckeyes and Badgers won their respective semifinal matchups on Friday at Pegula Ice arena.

Top-seeded Ohio State blanked Northeastern 5-0 in the matinee, while defending national champion Wisconsin needed overtime to defeat host Penn State 4-3 in the nightcap, setting up the latest installment of the most prolific rivalry in NCAA Division I women’s hockey.

Sunday’s NCAA Frozen Four championship game is set for 4 p.m. Eastern at Penn State’s Pegula Ice Arena. The game can be seen on ESPNU and ESPN+ in the United States and on TSN+ in Canada.

Each of the three previous championship showdowns between the two programs was decided by a single goal:

OSU-UW NCAA Title Game Matchups
Year Winner Score
2025 Wisconsin 4-3 (ot)
2024 Ohio State 1-0
2023 Wisconsin 1-0

Here’s how both teams advanced this time:

Ohio State 5, Northeastern 0

The top-seeded Buckeyes received goals from five different players and a 15-save shutout from Hailey MacLeod (Sr., Abbotsford, British Columbia), who improved to 25-3-0.

OSU junior F Joy Dunne (O’Fallon, Mo.) broke the ice with her 27th goal of the season midway through the first period, and MacLeod made it hold up the rest of the way with her sixth shutout.

Kaia Malachino (Jr., Brighton, Mich.), Sanni Vanhanen (Fr., Tampere, Finland) and Emma Peschel (Sr., Edina, Minn.) each added goals in the final 3:27 of the opening frame, and the Buckeyes cruised the rest of the way, outshooting the Huskies 42-15 on the day.

Senior defender Sara Swiderski (Langley, British Columbia) put a bow on the scoring early in the third period, sending OSU to its fifth straight national championship game.

The victory was the Buckeyes’ school-record 36th of the season.

Wisconsin 4, Penn State 3 (ot)

Wisconsin senior Kirsten Simms (Plymouth, Mich.) has made an entire career of scoring big goals in big games.

In Friday’s NCAA Frozen Four semifinal, Simms sniped a shot from the top of the right dot on the power play just 50 seconds into overtime, giving the Badgers a 4-3 win over Penn State.

After UW won an offensive zone faceoff to begin the power play, Simms took a cross-ice pass from Caroline Harvey (Sr., Salem, N.H.) at the right point, skated freely into the right faceoff circle and wired a high wrist shot past PSU goalie Katie DeSa (Sr., Pawcatuck, Ct.).

The Badgers will now have a chance to defend their NCAA title against arch-rival Ohio State. In last year’s title tilt, it was Simms who tied the game on a penalty shot with 18 seconds left and then scored the overtime winner.

Her goal tonight in the extra frame was the 100th of her standout career. She also picked up pair of assists.

Laila Edwards (Sr., Cleveland Heights, Ohio) scored twice and added an assist for the Badgers, while Adéla Šapovalivová (Fr., Beroun, Czechia) had a tally and two helpers.

After allowing two PSU power-play goals on the Nittany Lions’ first two shots of the game, UW goalie Ava McNaughton (Jr., Seven Fields, Pa.) stopped 22 if 23 the rest of the way to push her record to 27-2-2.

PSU captain Tessa Janecke (Sr., Orangeville, Ill.) lit the lamp twice, her second coming on a brilliant breakaway effort with 4:59 remaining that sent the game to overtime. Abby Stonehouse (So., Blenheim, Ontario) also scored for the host team, which got 31 saves from DeSa.

Also of Note:

  • UW is seeking its ninth national championship, and OSU is looking for its third (2024, 2022).
  • Attendance for the Wisconsin-Penn State game was a women’s Frozen Four record 5,176
  • Janecke’s two goals were the 200th and 201st points of her collegiate career.
  • Harvey’s primary assist on the OT winner was the 200th point of her NCAA career.
  • PSU and UW went a combined 4-for-8 on the power play in the nightcap after OSU and Northeastern went scoreless in a combined seven chances in the opener.

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Did you know? 97% of NCAA Division I women’s hockey players earn their degree.