Sunday, March 23, 2025
Frozen Four: Simms Delivers NCAA Title for Wisconsin
Junior Forward Ties Game on Penalty Shot, Wins it in OT
MINNEAPOLIS—Wisconsin junior forward Kirsten Simms buried a rebound goal less than three minutes into overtime to give the Badgers a 4-3 win over Ohio State and the program’s eighth NCAA Frozen Four championship.
Simms got her stick on a Lacey Eden (Gr., Annapolis, Md.) rebound and swatted it into an open net before OSU goaltender Amanda Thiele could recover, capping off what was surely one of the most memorable college hockey games ever played.
That this game, played in front of a Ridder Arena capacity crowd of 3,100, even made it into overtime was also the result of Simms’ heroics.
With OSU clinging to a 3-2 lead and trying to kill a UW power play, Badger head coach Mark Johnson used his coaches challenge with 18.9 seconds remaining, successfully asserting that a Buckeye defender had put a hand on a loose puck during a scramble in the crease.
Johnson was given the choice of a power play – which would have given the Badgers a 6-on-3 advantage or a penalty shot. After cameras caught Johnson mouthing to his team, “Who wants it?”, Simms’ arm immediately shot up into the air.
With the season on the line for her top-ranked Badgers and following words of encouragement from teammate Casey O’Brien (Milton, Mass.) at the bench, Simms slowly entered the offensive zone up the right wing, made her way to the front of the net, and deked Thiele with a spectacular series of moves before tucking the puck around her outstretched left skate.
“I haven’t seen her do that in practice,” said Johnson. “I give her a lot of credit. I don’t know if I would’ve taken the shot if the coach looked at me and said, ‘Okay, who wants to shoot?’ But as Laila [Edwards] said the other day, pressure is a privilege. You have to accept that challenge, and you have be about as free as you can be free in that moment.”
The tying goal at least temporarily put on hold the Buckeyes’ bid for a second consecutive national championship. Simms dashed those dreams for good at 2:49 of the extra session when she potted the winning goal.
“Lacey just took a shot and the rebound came right at me, and I just kind of hit the puck and hoped that it went in the net,” said Simms of her game-winning tally. “Luckily enough, it did.”
The goals were the 24th and 25th of the year for the Plymouth, Mich., native and put the finishing touches on a dream season a Badger team that went an incredible 38-1-2. It was also an epic end to an epic game that displayed oodles of high-end skill and gotta-have-it grit.
OSU sophomore Joy Dunne (O’Fallon, Mo.) opened the scoring at 8:22 of the first period with an incredible end-to-end rush while shorthanded, beating UW goalie Ava McNaughton (So., Seven Fields, Pa.) backhand-to-forehand for her third tally of the tournament.
The Badgers responded just 12 seconds later when Edwards broke in from the right circle, outwaited Thiele and deposited her 35th goal of the year.
OSU regained the one-goal edge six minutes later on a 2-on-1 snipe by Sloane Matthews (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.), then extended the lead just 10 seconds into the middle frame on an Emma Peschel one-time blast.
The Badgers, though, kept pushing.
Caroline Harvey (Jr., Salem, N.H.) cut the score to 3-2 at 5:27 of the second period, one-timing a Simms feed in the slot for her 18th of the year.
Late in the third period, the Buckeyes were penalized for too many players on the ice, and Wisconsin pushed desperately for the tying goal with McNaughton on the bench for an extra attacker and a 6-on-4 advantage. But Thiele made several point-bank stops inside the final minute until the game-changing penalty shot.
“It still hasn’t totally set it in with me,” said Simms. “At the end of the day, I’m just super-happy that we’re bringing that trophy back to Madison. No matter how the job got done, it got done, and we’re taking that trophy home with us.”
McNaughton stopped 20 shots while Thiele made 31 saves.
It was the third straight year these two teams squared off in the national title game and the third straight to be decided by a single goal.
Johnson compared a hockey season to a blank canvas to be painted on, the finished product unknown until the very end.
“Today, we got a masterpiece,” said Johnson. “And it looks good. Now as a team, we can sign it and it goes down as one of the best teams we’ve ever had.”
Of Note:
- Simms was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates McNaughton, Harvey and Edwards, as well as OSU’s Dunne and Peschel.
- Wisconsin scored a school-record 221 goals on the year.
- Dunne finished the season with an OSU-record 62 points and a 10-game goal streak.
Must Read:
Badger Extra: 3 things that stood out as Wisconsin won its 8th NCAA championship
Dub Hockey: When the coach asked, “Who wants it?”, Kirsten Simms answered
ESPN: Wisconsin wins eighth national title in OT thriller
The Athletic: Wisconsin defeats Ohio State to win NCAA women’s hockey national championship
The Hockey News: Kirsten Simms plays hero in epic comeback
USCHO: The Wisconsin Badgers are 2025 national champions
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