Wisconsin Badgers
Bemidji State
Five things to know: Badgers return home to face Beavers
January 20, 2026 | Women's Hockey
No. 1 UW faces BSU during senior day
MADISON, Wis. - The No.1 Wisconsin women’s hockey team plays its first home series of 2026 against the Bemidji State Beavers on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 24 and 25. Saturday’s game will be at 1 p.m and Sunday’s at 11 a.m. (CT)
Saturday's pregame will honor the nine Badger seniors on the team, Badger fans should show up to the game early to take part in the ceremony.
Fans can watch the action on Big Ten Plus or listen to Aidan Michaels on The Game 1070 AM.
Here are five things to know about the series
1. COMING OFF A SWEEP
The Badgers played St. Thomas at Lee and Penny Anderson Arena on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 16 and 17, where the team collected its first sweep of 2026. Both games in St. Paul ended in a 5-1 win for Wisconsin.
In game one, Emma Venusio tallied the Badgers’ first goal just 54 seconds in. Finley McCarthy and Kirsten Simms found the back of the net, along with two goals from Lacey Eden.
Eden’s streak continued for Saturday’s game with two more goals. Cassie Hall joined the two-goal party as well. Junior Kelly Gorbatenko scored the team’s game-winning goal.
2. AGAINST THE BEAVERS
The Badgers met the Beavers in their first matchup of the season in September. UW swept Bemidji 9-2 in game one and 5-0 in game two.
Over the series, Charlotte Pieckenhagen and Adéla Šapovalivová both scored their first career goals as freshmen. Sophomore Maggie Scannell secured her first career hat trick in the first game of the series. The Badgers are on a 21 game win-streak against the Beavers and are overall 40-2-2 against them.
The matchup against Bemidji State will be the last series with the full roster until the Olympics are over. The five Badger Olympians– Laila Edwards, Caroline Harvey, Kirsten Simms, Ava McNaughton and Adéla Šapovalivová-- will return to Wisconsin for the first round of WCHA playoffs.
3. CELEBRATING SENIORS
For Saturday’s game of the series, nine Badger seniors will be honored for a Senior Night celebration before the game begins. The senior skaters will be joined by their families to be presented on the ice.
The seniors are Caroline Harvey, Vivian Jungels, Laila Edwards, Kirsten Simms, Claire Enright, Chloe Baker, McKayla Zilisch, Lacey Eden and Marianne Picard.
Fans should be in there seats 30 minutes prior to puck drop to watch the ceremony.
4. HEATED RIVALRIES
After the squad’s series against Bemidji, the Badgers will head into two back-to-back rivalry series. UW will face No. 3 Minnesota at Ridder Arena on Jan. 30 and 31 before returning home to play No. 2 Ohio State at home on Feb. 6 and 7.
Wisconsin met Minnesota at home on Halloween weekend, where they suffered a spooky 5-1 loss in game one. However, the team bounced back for the second game of the series to secure a 7-2 victory. Kelly Gorbatenko scored twice in game two. The Badgers are overall 59-58-16 with the Gophers
The Badgers swept Ohio State 2-1 and 6-1 on Dec. 5 and 6. In both games, captain Caroline Harvey got a shot at a breakaway goal. Before the matchup in December, the Badgers last faced the Buckeyes in the National Championship game, where the UW obtained an OT 4-3 win. Wisconsin’s home record against Ohio State is 39-7-7.
5. RISING STARS
Five incoming Badgers played at the IIHF U18 World Championship games this past weekend.
Emily Pohl, Maddy Kimbrel and Haley Box won Gold with Team USA.
Rosalie Tremblay represented Team Canada, where she earned a Silver medal.
Nela Lopusanova played for Team Slovakia and tied the U18 World Championship scoring record with 33 points, from 22 goals and 11 assists.
