Friday, March 28, 2025
Women’s Notes: Wrapping Up the 2024-25 Season
A Look Back, Ahead, and At The DIII Frozen Four
Tying a bow on the 2024-25 women’s Division I season is no easy feat—after an exhilarating Frozen Four and a season full of accolades, big wins, and top-tier talent, summing it all up is a challenge. A stick tap for another season of NCAA women’s hockey, award winners, tournament participants, Frozen Four finalists, and national champion Wisconsin Badgers.
AHA:
Regular Season Champion: Penn State
Playoff Champion: Penn State
ECAC Hockey:
Regular Season Champion: Cornell
Playoff Champion: Cornell
Hockey East:
Regular Season Champion: UConn
Playoff Champion: Boston University
NEWHA:
Regular Season Champion: Long Island
Playoff Champion: Sacred Heart
WCHA:
Regular Season Champion: Wisconsin
Playoff Champion: Wisconsin
Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Composite Schedule | Stat Leaders | Goaltending Leaders
2024-25 Award Winners:
Congratulations to Casey O’Brien (Gr., Milton, Mass.), the 2025 Patty Kazmaier Award winner and a three-time national champion. Check out all the season’s award winners below:
Must Read:
The Athletic: Wisconsin defeats Ohio State to win NCAA women’s hockey national championship
The Athletic: Wisconsin’s Casey O’Brien wins 2025 Patty Kazmaier Award: Why she won
Clean Sheet Hockey: Small Town Goalie, Big Time Potential
DIII Hockey News: 2025 Women’s Frozen Four Notes
ESPN: Women’s Championship Play on ESPN Platforms Experiences Double-Digit Growth
ESPN: Wisconsin Badgers win NCAA women’s hockey title in overtime
The Hockey News: Kirsten Simms Plays Hero In Epic Comeback, Wisconsin Wins National Title
The Ice Garden: NCAA DI Tournament 2025: National Championship Wrap Up
NHL: Color of Hockey: Nurse out to ‘make an even bigger impact’ on, off ice
NHL: Sirens’ Roque scores 1st ‘Michigan’ goal in PWHL history
PWHL: Weekly Notebook: March 25, 2025
TSN: With Canadian captain and coach, Buckeyes seek women’s Frozen Four repeat
USCHO: The Wisconsin Badgers are 2025 National Champions!
USCHO: Weekend Wrap March 17, 2025
The Wall Street Journal: Can Anyone Stop This Hockey Powerhouse?
Must Watch & Hear:
NHL: PWHL Players Celebrate Trailblazer Jessica Campbell
NHL: Jessica Campbell Meets the Philadelphia Liberties
Jocks in Jills: First PWHL Michigan + Insane NCAA Final Featuring Kirsten Simms
The PodKaz: Ep. 44 Looking back on an incredible Frozen Four and Wisconsin’s late rally
Our Kids Play Hockey: Pulverizing the Stigma & Tackling Mental Health in Youth Sports with Jon Nelson
Top of the Charts:
Goals: Laila Edwards, Wisconsin – 35
Assists: Casey O’Brien, Wisconsin – 62
Points: Casey O’Brien, Wisconsin – 88
Shots on Goal: Abbey Murphy, Minnesota – 242
Game Winning Goals: Kirsten Simms Wisconsin, Abbey Murphy Minnesota, Joy Dunne Ohio State, Lacey Eden Wisconsin, Jenna Buglioni Ohio State, Julia Pellerin Boston College – 7
Short Handed Goals: Maddy Christian, Penn State & Olivia Mobley, Minnesota Duluth – 4
Plus/Minus: Caroline Harvey, Wisconsin – plus 75
Blocks: Allyson Hebert, Robert Morris – 107
Faceoff Percentage (over 200 taken): Tessa Janecke, Penn State – 69.9%
Minutes: Ava McNaughton, Wisconsin – 2,2016
GAA: Ava McNaughton, Wisconsin – 1.25
Save Percentage: Carly Greene, Sacred Heart – .953%
Shutouts: Annalies Bergmann, Cornell – 10
The Final Ranking:
With the official end of the 2024-25 season, take a look at the final USA Hockey/The Rink Live Women’s College Hockey Poll:
1. University of Wisconsin – 38-1-2
2. Ohio State University – 29-8-3
3. Cornell University – 25-5-5
4. University of Minnesota – 29-12-1
5. Colgate University – 30-9-0
6. University of Minnesota Duluth – 22-15-2
7. St. Lawrence University – 22-12-5
8. Clarkson University – 25-13-2
9. Penn State University – 31-6-1
10. Quinnipiac University – 22-12-4
11. Boston University – 24-12-2
12. St. Cloud State University – 15-15-6
13. University of Connecticut – 22-12-2
14. Northeastern University – 22-14-1
15. Boston College – 21-13-2
Looking Ahead:
2025-26: Only 180-odd days until we drop the puck on the 2025-26 season.
Ice Breaker: Union will host the 2025 Ice Breaker Tournament at its new rink, the Mohawk Harbor Event Center, in Schenectady, New York. The tournament is set for Oct. 17-18, 2025. See more details, here.
Frozen Four: Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, Pennsylvania, is set to host the 2026 Women’s Frozen Four. It will be Penn State’s second time hosting the event, following the 2022 tournament.
DIII Domain:
The field is set for the 2025 NCAA Division III Women’s Frozen Four, with Amherst, Augsburg, Middlebury, and UW-River Falls still in the hunt for a national championship. Amherst and Middlebury meet in the first semifinal on Friday at 3 p.m. CST, followed by Augsburg vs. UW-River Falls at 7 p.m. CST. The winners will face off in the championship game on Sunday at 3 p.m. CST.
Amherst: The Mammoths are seeking their first national championship since winning back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. Amherst (22-5-1) secured its spot with a 4-1 win over Colby. Junior goaltender Natalie Stott (Franklin, Mass.) boasts a 0.85 goals-against average, allowing just 24 goals in 27 games. Up front, the Mammoths will rely on leading scorers Maeve Reynolds (Plymouth, Mass.) and Bea Flynn (Berlin, Conn.) to drive the offense.
Augsburg: The Augsburg Auggies secured their first NCAA Division III National Championship appearance with a 4-2 win over St. Norbert, finishing the season with a 24-3-1 record. Freshman goaltender Kayla Simonson (Delano, Minn.) has been a key factor, posting a .945 save percentage and a 1.45 goals-against average. The Auggies are led by junior defenseman Nora Stepan (Apple Valley, Minn.), who has 28 points, and senior forward Emily Cronkhite (Eagan, Minn.), who has 24 points.
Middlebury: The Panthers are chasing their fifth national title as they make their 20th NCAA tournament appearance with a 21-6-1 record. Head coach Bill Mandigo, the winningest coach in women’s college hockey across all divisions, has 660 career victories. Middlebury is one of only two programs to complete a perfect season, going 27-0-0 en route to a national championship in 2022. The Panthers have 12 skaters with double-digit points and are led by senior Cat Appleyard (Rye, N.Y.).
UW-River Falls: The Falcons defeated Elmira in a rematch of last year’s final to secure their second consecutive Frozen Four appearance, posting a 24-3-2 record. Last season, UW-River Falls went undefeated, claiming the national title with a perfect 31-0 record. Junior goaltender Jordan O’Kane (Alexandria, Minn.) has a .903 save percentage and a 1.87 goals-against average. Offensively, senior Bailey Olson (Willmar, Minn.) leads the Falcons with 56 points, while junior Megan Goodreau (Lino Lakes, Minn.) has 48.
Notebook Quotebook:
“The players deserve the credit. I mean, we’re just the coaches, we’re the leaders, but we’re serving [the players], and I think great leaders serve the people that are in front of them, and that’s our job as a staff is to is to help them and to navigate them, sometimes encourage them and sometimes hold them accountable…”
–Head Coach Mark Johnson (Wisconsin ’94) on giving his players the credit and reflecting on the coaching staff’s role with its players.
PWHL Note of the Week:
Women’s hockey is heating up in Michigan with the University of Michigan’s women’s Division I hockey feasibility study, the PWHL Takeover Tour in Detroit, and the latest milestone from Michigan native Abby Roque.
New York Sirens forward Abby Roque (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.), a 2020 Wisconsin alum, became the first PWHL player to score a goal using “The Michigan.” On Monday, Roque appeared on NHL Now on NHL Network for a special “Players Only” segment alongside hosts Mike Rupp and Michael Del Zotto to discuss the goal and more. To watch the goal and Roque’s interview, see here.
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CHA | ECAC | Hockey East | NEWHA | WCHA
Did you know? 97% of NCAA Division I women’s hockey players earn their degree!