MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin women's hockey program announced on Thursday that forward Lacey Eden will join the Badgers immediately. 

"I think the coaching staff is excited," UW head coach Mark Johnson said. "It's not normal that at semester you're able to make additions to your squad, but obviously we're in a period of time in history that strange things are happening. So the opportunity was presented, we tried to recruit her and now she's getting the opportunity to come in and help us. I addressed it with the team and so it's no different than what we do in the fall where we bring in four, five or six freshmen and we just happened to bring another freshman in at semester.

"The landscape of college hockey, especially on the men's side, you've seen a handful of teams lose players because they're not playing and so it's uncharted territory for a lot of situations, but we're excited.

"She's a skilled player. We're trying to get her up to speed as quickly as we can. I know she's been working hard skating and doing that. The nice thing for her coming in here is she's got two teammates that she was teammates with for a long time at Shattuck St. Mary's. Casey O'Brien and Makenna Webster were her teammates and linemates the last couple years and they know each other real well so that will make her transition coming here a little easier."

A native of Annapolis, Maryland, Eden arrives in Madison with lots of experience with USA Hockey as she helped the U.S. win gold at the 2020 IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship in Bratislava, Slovakia, last January with Webster and future UW blueliner Caroline Harvey.

An alternate captain for the U.S., Eden was named the Team USA Player of the Game following its 3-0 semifinal victory against Russia and was named to the all-tournament team after leading Team USA in scoring.

Eden also helped the U.S. win silver at the 2019 IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship, where she posted a goal and an assist.

She played her prep hockey at Shattuck St. Mary's, where she posted 175 points in 96 games over a two-season span. Eden led SSM last year with 111 points thanks to 48 goals and 63 assists  She collected 64 points during her junior year with 27 goals and 37 assists.

"Wisconsin offers a competitive atmosphere on the ice and in the classroom that will push me to become the best version of myself," Eden said. "The UW women's hockey program is home to a rich legacy of talent and success, and the opportunity to continue that legacy while simultaneously creating my own path in pursuit of my Olympic aspirations is beyond exciting."

Eden will wear No. 6 for the Badgers this year.

Eden and the No. 2 Badgers will take on No. 1 Minnesota this weekend at LaBahn Arena. Puck drop on both Friday and Saturday is at 2 p.m. and Saturday's game can be seen live on Fox Sports Wisconsin and Fox Sports North.