University of Wisconsin News Service

MADISON, Wis. – The second-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team scored four unanswered goals to upset No. 1 Ohio State, 4-2, at an electric LaBahn Arena on Saturday night. 

Casey O’Brien and Laila Edwards each tallied a pair of goals as the Badgers (29-5-0, 23-5-0 WCHA) snapped the Buckeyes’ (29-3-0, 26-2-0 WCHA) 16-game winning streak in the final weekend of the WCHA regular season. 

Ohio State struck first, finding the back of the net halfway through the first before adding another late in the opening slate. 

O’Brien brought the sellout crowd to its feet in the second period, sneaking the puck past OSU netminder Amanda Thiele to make it a 2-1 game. 

Halfway through the final frame, O’Brien scored the equalizer with her second of the night, before Edwards gave the Badgers the lead off a stellar setup from Kirsten Simms. 

Edwards continued the fun by capitalizing on the empty net with just eight seconds left in the game. 

Ava McNaughton stopped a career-high 33 shots for her 15th win of the year. 

Three Notes of the Game
– The Badgers grabbed their first win over the Buckeyes since taking down the top-ranked team, 1-0,  in the 2023 National Championship game. 
– UW won its first game of the season while being outshot. The Badgers were outshot 35-24, but were able to find the back of the net on four of the 24 shots. 
– Wisconsin officially finishes second in the WCHA with 69 points in the standings. UW completes the regular season with a record of 23-5-0 in WCHA play. 

Straight from the Rink
Head Coach Mark Johnson
On a positive end to the regular season:
“It’s a great way to finish the season, it was a good year for us. We were pretty consistent even though we were banged up a lot of different chunks of the year. But, you know, kids stepped up and as I reflect back on it, it was a lot of positive things. So now we can enjoy tonight.” 

On what the team did to contain the Buckeyes:
“You have to somehow contain them. I mean, you’re not going to stop them. They’re too deep and fast, and they play a well structured game. You have to be willing to block shots, which we did the last six or eight minutes of the game. Then your goalie has to make some saves. You have to count on her to make a chunk of those saves. Even when we were down 2-0, Ava gave us a chance to win.”

Senior Casey O’Brien
On the team turning it around from the first period:
“In the first period, I don’t think we were anywhere near our best, but we self-reflected in the locker room in between periods. I think everybody looked in the mirror, thought about what they could do better, and then we went out and executed it. I think it just shows that we can come back from adversity and we’re a real tough team. When we play our best, no one can beat us.” 

On the whole team contributing to the win:
“I think my favorite part of the break was when we were sitting in the locker room talking about what we needed to do better and we had someone from every single class speaking. Everybody was listening, everybody was respecting each other. We were all on the same page and knowing that we can have that level of respect in the locker room and then be able to translate on to the ice like that is huge and just going into the playoffs. That’s something that not every team has, and as long as we have that, I think we’re going to be fine.”

Sophomore Laila Edwards
On taking down the top-ranked Buckeyes:
“I think that was a great game for our confidence. We expect to see them again, but it’s nice knowing that they’re a beatable team because a lot of people didn’t think they were. It felt good and we’ll see them soon.” 

Up Next: Wisconsin will be back in action next weekend at LaBahn Arena as the Badgers will host the first round of the WCHA tournament against St. Thomas on March 1-3. Puck drop on Friday, March 1 is set for 5 p.m. The second game of the series will begin at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 2 and if a third game is necessary that would take place on Sunday, March 3 at 4 p.m.