Saturday, March 22, 2025
Frozen Four Semifinals: Badgers, Buckeyes to Meet Yet Again
Wisconsin, Ohio State Secure Return Date to Title Game
MINNEAPOLIS—In 2023, Wisconsin defeated Ohio State in the NCAA Frozen Four championship game. In 2024, the Buckeyes returned the favor. Both of those games were decided by 1-0 final scores.
In 2025, college hockey fans will be treated to the rubber match.
The Buckeyes doubled Cornell 4-2 in the first of two semifinal matchups Friday, while the Badgers downed host Minnesota 6-2 in the nightcap, setting up the third straight OSU-UW title game.
Sunday’s NCAA Frozen Four championship game is set for 3 p.m. CT at the University of Minnesota’s Ridder Arena. The game can be seen on ESPNU and ESPN+ in the United States and on TSN+ in Canada.
Here’s how both teams advanced:
Ohio State 4, Cornell 2
Scoring big goals at the NCAA Frozen Four is becoming a habit for Joy Dunne (O’Fallon, Mo.).
The Ohio State sophomore forward scored twice in the third period Friday, turning a 2-2 tie into a 4-2 win over No. 3 Cornell.
One year ago as a freshman, Dunne scored a goal in each of OSU’s two Frozen Four games, with both coming in the third period, en route to a national title.
This time, Dunne snapped a shot from the high slot past Cornell goalie Annelies Bergmann (So., Detroit, Mich.), giving the No. 2 Buckeyes a 3-2 lead just under four minutes into the third period. Less than four minutes later, she lunged for a loose puck on top of the crease and swatted it past Bergmann to provide all the insurance OSU needed.
For Dunne, the goals were her team-leading 27th and 28th of the season. For the defending NCAA champion Buckeyes, it secured a fourth straight trip to the national championship game.
Dunne’s goals came after Cornell had rallied from 2-0 down to tie the game in the middle frame. Senior Lily Delianedis (Edina, Minn.) got the Big Red on the board at 13:14 of the period, going top shelf while falling to the ice. It was the 12th goal of the year for Delianedis. Just over a minute later, Kaitlin Jockins (Gr., Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) snapped one short side on a 3-on-1 rush to tie the game.
That 68-second outburst by Cornell erased Ohio State’s lead that had been built on first-period tallies by Makenna Webster (Gr., St. Louis, Mo.) – on her birthday, no less – and Brooke Disher (Jr., Fort St. John, British Columbia).
“We were arm in the arm in the locker room saying we’re going to do this. We’re doing this as a team,” said Dunne. “I was fortunate enough to score the goals but there were a ton of big plays made on the back end, all the way up 200 feet, that don’t necessarily make the scoresheet but without those, we wouldn’t have even gotten into the offensive zone.”
Said OSU coach Nadine Muzerall: “Momentum is tough. It can take forever to have and in a second you can lose it. So, the fact we grabbed it back and then held onto it, I think spoke volumes of their character.”
Amanda Thiele (Gr., Milford, Mich.) made stopped 27 of 29 shots between the pipes for OSU, while Bergmann finished with 38 saves.
On Sunday, the Buckeyes will play in a fourth straight title game with not only repeat as national champions but take home their third crown in four years.
“That’s the standard that Muzzy and the players before us have set,” said Thiele. “It’s crazy to do but I’m super proud of this group.”
Wisconsin 6, Minnesota 2
With a return berth to the national title game at stake, Wisconsin’s biggest stars made sure not to let the opportunity slip.
The Badgers received five goals from their three Patty Kazmaier Award finalists – including a hat trick from Laila Edwards (Jr., Cleveland Heights, Ohio) – and toppled the host Golden Gophers on their home ice to set up a third straight championship showdown with WCHA rival Ohio State.
It was the 37th victory of the year for the Badgers, tying the 2010-11 team for the most in program history.
What turned out to be a four-goal final margin was actually a 3-2 nailbiter in the dying seconds of the second period. That’s when Wisconsin’s Casey O’Brien (Gr., Milton, Mass.), one of the aforementioned Kazmaier finalists, struck on a four-on-four with just two seconds left in the frame to give the Badgers a two-goal cushion.
Edwards sealed the game in the third period with her second and third tallies of the game, the latter an empty-netter for her NCAA-leading 34th goal of the year.
“I’m playing, living my dream right now,” said Edwards. “I’m playing the sport I love with the people I love, so it’s great. If you look at all three of my goals, they started with someone else’s hard work and just smart hockey, so it’s a lot of fun and we’re really excited for the next game.”
The fourth-seeded Gophers were certainly game against a Badger squad that had lost just once all season, opening the scoring on a Peyton Hemp’s (Sr., Andover, Minn.) 16th of the year at 14:14 of the first period.
But Edwards sniped a short-handed goal almost exactly three minutes later, and Caroline Harvey (Jr., Salem, N.H.) – the third of the three Kazmaier finalists – and Kirsten Simms (Jr., Plymouth, Mich.) gave Wisconsin a 3-1 lead midway through the middle frame.
Josefin Bouveng (Jr., Vassunda, Sweden) answered less than a minute later to pull the Gophers back to within one, but O’Brien’s late goal just before the second intermission proved to be a back-breaker.
Ava McNaughton (So., Seven Fields, Pa.), the Women’s College Hockey Goalie of the Year, stopped 21 of 23 shots. Her Minnesota counterpart, freshman Hannah Clark (Oshawa, Ontario), recorded 26 saves.
O’Brien’s three-point night gave her 88 on the season, a new Wisconsin single-season record.
“They’ve earned everything that has been thrown their way,” said UW head coach Mark Johnson. “They’ve been consistent. They’ve played well all year, and we’ve always had this bullseye, especially this year, right in front of us and everybody comes after us and it’s challenging.
“It’s difficult, so I give them a lot of credit.”
Of Note:
- Dunne extended her goal-scoring streak to nine games. She led all players Friday with nine shots on goal.
- McNaughton tied Kristen Campbell’s Wisconsin school record with her 35th win of the season.
- Edwards’ first goal of the game was her 150th career point.
Must Read:
Badger Extra: How Wisconsin’s star defender persevered through a ‘roller coaster of a game’
Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State tops Cornell in NCAA women’s hockey semifinals
Cornell Daily Sun: Despite a two-goal comeback, Cornell’s season ends with Frozen Four loss
ESPN: Keys for Wisconsin, Ohio State in title game
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Wisconsin knocks off Minnesota again, sets up rematch with Ohio State
Saint Paul Pioneer Press: Gophers season comes to a close
USCHO: Wisconsin takes down Minnesota to set up a national championship rematch
USCHO: Ohio State advances to fourth straight national championship with 4-2 win over Cornell
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