On Sunday, March 23^rd, 2025, the top-ranked Wisconsin Badgers will face the second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes for the National Collegiate (NC) Women’s Ice Hockey Championship. To get here, Wisconsin posted a blistering 37-1-2 record this season with their crowning achievement(s), so far, were defeating Minnesota 4-3 on March 8^th to win the WCHA, and again on March 21^st by a score of 6-2 to advance to this National Championship Game. Ohio State had an impressive 29-7-3 this season, with their two biggest moments of the season being a 3-3(SOW) over Wisconsin at Wrigley Field on January 4^th and their emphatic 4-2 victory against 3^rd ranked Cornell on March 21^st to advance to this championship game.

Looking at the Wisconsin roster, their team has as many superstars as it does role players, which is a big part of their success. Casey O’Brien recorded an absurd 88 points in 40 games for a ppg of 2.20, which is the second-best season in NCAA NC history for players who appeared in at least 30 games (Harvard’s Nicole Corriero’s 91 points in 36 games in 2004-05 remains the record). Not too far behind, and equally historic (to the tune of 3^rd and 4^th all-time) Laila Edwards and Kristen Simms each recorded 69 points in 40 games. Not to be outdone, through the National Semi-Final round, Defender Caroline Harvey has posted 62 points in 40 games, which is enough to tie Ohio State Alumnus and Minnesota Frost Defender Sophie Jacques’ NCAA NC record of 1.55 PPG from the 2021-2022 campaign. Beyond the record setting future PWHL Superstars, Lacey Eden, Cassie Hall, Kelly Gorbatenko, and Laney Potter all posted scoring efficiencies that would be in at least the 80^th percentile in the NCAA this season, leaving very little wonder as to how the Badgers are playing for a championship on Sunday evening. In goal, Ava McNaughton has been stellar posting a 94.6% Save Percentage against a 1.20 GAA, while averaging a shade under 20 saves per game.

Moving to the Ohio State roster, their team did not have constant historic scoring output; however, it would be disrespectful to imply that their high-end players can’t contend with the Badger attack. Joy Dunne set the pace with 61 points in 39 games, while Jocelyn Amos (51 pts/39 gp), Jenna Buglioni (42 pts/37 gp), and Makenna Webster (34 pts/29 gp) were all PPG+ in the forward group over the course of the season. Also notable is that Emma Peschel records 33 points in 39 games from the blue line, making her an incredibly notable part of the Ohio State offense. Starting goaltender Amanda Thiele had a down year in 2024-2025, posting a career-low save percentage of 88.7% against a career-worst GAA of 2.15 while stopping 15.6 shots per game. Despite this, in Thiele’s last two starts against elite opponents in Cornell and St. Lawrence she posted a 92.5% and 92.3% respectively, so she’s playing her best hockey on the biggest stage and shouldn’t be an area of concern for the Buckeyes.

Coming back to an earlier point, these teams met four times during the 2024-2025 season, with two games ending in a Wisconsin regulation win, one game ending in an Ohio State regulation win, and one game ending in an Ohio State shootout win. The first Wisconsin win occurred in Columbus on November 15^th, with Wisconsin erasing an early 2-0 deficit to win 4-2 in regulation. Eden and Edwards both recorded 3 points in the contest for the Badgers while Thiele posted an 85.7% save percentage for the Buckeyes. In the rematch in Columbus on November 16^th, the Buckeyes once again got out to an early 2-0 lead, but this time were able to extend and maintain it to complete a 3-2 victory in regulation. Kiara Zanon had the deciding goal in the third period, while Thiele rebounded with a 92.7% save percentage. The third meeting between the two came on January 2^nd, 2025, in Madison, WI, where the Badgers wasted about a minute before opening the scoring enroute to a 6-0 bludgeoning of the Buckeyes. Eden once again recorded three points, while five different Badgers tallied a goal on the scoresheet. Thiele posted an 82.7% save percentage through two periods before being replaced by Hailey MacLeod in the third. The fourth and final meeting between these two occurred on January 4^th at Wrigley Field in Chicago, making it the most relevant game of the four as it was played at a neutral site. During regulation, neither team ever led by more than one goal and both goalies were fantastic in posting 90%+ save percentages during the game. Jenna Buglioni scored the SOW in the 7^th round of the shootout, but aside from the feel-good story, this game was effectively a tie as it pertains to Sunday evening’s outcome.

On paper, Wisconsin is the stronger team based off NPI, (69.996* to 62.377*) while both teams have had similar Strength of schedule (Wisconsin 8^th in the nation, Ohio State 6^th). This game is likely going to come down to goaltending and limiting the opponents’ high danger scoring chances. It’s obvious based on both goalies’ average shot totals that they’re not consistently tasked against high shot volume or high chance volume, which gives two teams with overwhelming scoring ability a great chance to win. Regardless of the result, this will be one of the most star-studded Women’s NC Championship games of all-time, and I look forward to seeing which players and team can make a historic game out of it.