Wisconsin Badgers
Quinnipiac
Five things to know: No. 2 Badgers host NCAA Regional Final
March 12, 2026 | Women's Hockey
UW plays Quinnipiac in chance to advance to Frozen Four
MADISON, Wis. - The No. 2 Wisconsin women’s hockey team competes in the NCAA regional final game on Saturday, March 14 at 1 p.m. (CT).
UW faces No. 7 Quinnipiac, who recently advanced after shutting out Franklin Pierce, 4-0 at LaBahn this Thursday.
Fans can watch the action on ESPN+ or listen to Paul Braun on The Game 1070 AM.
Here are five things to know about the series:
1. AT THE FACEOFF
UW advanced to the Final Faceoff championship game after a 7-2 win over Minnesota State Mankato.
Both Kirsten Simms and Kelly Gorbatenko scored two goals in UW’s game against the Mavericks. Caroline Harvey, Adéla Šapovalivová and Maggie Scannell tallied one goal each as well to advance the Badgers to the championship game.
In the championship game, the Badgers faced Ohio State, where only Captain Lacey Eden was able to capitalize on UW’s behalf. However, the Buckeyes found two goals in the last six minutes to win the WCHA Championship.
Ava McNaughton made a career-high 38 saves in the loss. Simms and Harvey both earned spots on the WCHA All-Tournament Team.
2. HERE SHE GOES AGAIN
For the second consecutive year, Captain Caroline Harvey has been named as a Patty Kazmaier top-three award finalist.
Harvey has 61 points in just 30 games this season, and is only two points shy of matching her school record for most points by a defender of 63 set last year.
Harvey is joined by Minnesota’s Abbey Murphy and Penn State’s Tessa Janecke. All three finalists were recently teammates and became gold medalists as members of the 2026 Team USA women’s hockey team at the Milano Cortina Olympics.
Badgers Laila Edwards, Lacey Eden and Kirsten Simms were all titled as top-ten finalists for the honor.
3. BIG TIME HONORS
Lacey Eden, Caroline Harvey, Ava McNaughton and Coach Mark Johnson were all finalists for the WCHA postseason awards given at the Final Faceoff.
Eden was up for the Forward of the Year award, Harvey for Defender of the Year, McNaughton for Goaltender of the Year and Johnson for Coach of the Year.
The awards show took place on Wednesday, March 4 in St. Paul. Coach Johnson was named the WCHA Coach of the Year, currently sitting at 699 wins. Captain Harvey was titled as the 2025-26 Defender and Player of the Year.
4. AGAINST QUINNIPIAC
The Wisconsin women's hockey team has met Quinnipiac just 10 times before and is 8-1-1 overall against the Bobcats.
Quinnipiac's hockey program is a part of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), recently winning the conference tournament with a 5-1 victory of one-seed Yale.
Overall this season, the Bobcats are 29-8-3. and 14-6-2 in their conference. Quinnipiac shut out Franklin Pierce, 4-0, during Thursday's NCAA matchup, advancing them to play Wisconsin.
The Badgers and Bobcats last played eachother on Jan. 1, 2023, where the Badgers lost 3-0. However, to close out the New Year, the previous night on Dec. 31, 2022, UW shut out Quinnipiac 3-0.
5. ALMOST THERE
If UW is to advance on Saturday, the Wisconsin women's hockey team will begin the trip to Happy Valley.
The 2026 NCAA Frozen Four takes place March 20-22 at Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, PA.
Wisconsin would face the winner of the No.3 Penn State and UConn vs. Princeton game.
Ohio State is seeded at No.1 and Minnesota at No. 4.
