Wisconsin beats Ohio State to win second consecutive NCAA women’s hockey championship

A fitting way to end an incredible season.

Thanks to a late goal from senior Claire Enright, the Wisconsin Badgers beat the Ohio State Buckeyes, 3-2, to win the 2026 NCAA Women’s D-I Championship.

The victory marks a record ninth national championship for the Badgers. They also become the first team to be true back-to-back champions since Clarkson won it all in 2017 and 2018.

Sunday evening’s matchup was the fourth consecutive matchup in the national championship between the WCHA rivals. With the win, Wisconsin has beaten Ohio State three times in the final game of the season.

Just like the past three national title games, the game went down to the wire. Wisconsin entered the third period with a 2-0 lead, but the Buckeyes had a couple of quick strikes from Kassidy Carmichael and Jocelyn Amos to tie the game early in the frame. It looked like we were heading to overtime for the second year in a row, but then Enright, who hadn’t scored in over a month, beat OSU netminder Hailey MacLeod to give the Badgers the lead with over five minutes to play in regulation.

Ohio State put the pedal down looking for the equalizer, but made a costly error in the final minute. After a scramble in the Badgers’ crease, Buckeye head coach Nadine Muzzerall elected to challenge to see if a Wisconsin skater covered the puck in the crease (a callpack to last year’s final). However, the review determined the play was clean, and OSU was assessed a delay-of-game penalty, securing the win for Wisconsin.

Wisconsin defender and Patty Kazmaier Award winner Caroline Harvey admitted how proud she was of her group, especially when the likes of her, Laila Edwards and Kirsten Simms went to win gold with Team USA at the Winter Olympics.

“We came together when it all mattered,” Harvey said on the ESPN broadcast after the win. “Couldn’t be more proud of this group. … Our group’s so tight. Things flow right back together and we’re able to get it done. The group that was here while we were gone, they held us together so strongly. We have so much depth. Anyone can do it on any given day, so we’re just so proud of them.”

Harvey, Edwards, Lacey Eden, Enright, Simms and Vivian Jungels end their college careers as three-time national champions. Enright, who is known more for her play in her own zone than on the offensive end, was happy to wrap up her time in Madison on the greatest of highs.

“It feels just as sweet as the first one,” Enright said. “I can’t be more proud of my teammates. I’m proud of all the staff that has pushed us so hard. I’m just amazed at this group, but I love these girls. To be a defensive forward…I don’t score many goals, but it feels amazing.”

For Wisconsin, it’s a little bit of recent revenge as well. Despite winning three of the four regular-season matchups against the Buckeyes during the regular season, Ohio State came back to beat the Badgers in the WCHA Championship Game just a couple of weeks ago.

The Badgers were flying out of the gate. In front of a rather pro-Wisconsin crowd, despite the game taking place on the campus of Penn State, Kelly Gorbatenko stayed hot with her fourth goal of the tournament to open the scoring just over a minute into the contest. The line of Gorbatenko, Adela Sapovalivova, and Lacey Eden continued to swarm the Buckeyes, with the line contributing to Laney Potter’s goal a few minutes later to put Wisconsin up by two.

Ava McNaughton ended up being one of the true heroes of the game. When Ohio State started to ramp up the pressure, the junior netminder came up clutch. Including a couple of huge saves on Joy Dunne, last year’s NCAA goaltender of the year, turned away 34 shots in the win. She was also named to Most Outstanding Player of the Frozen Four.

MacLeod certainly did everything she could to give the Buckeyes a chance, making 31 saves on Sunday night.

Wisconsin is now 9-4 in national title games, with OSU falling to 2-3.

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