The longest winning and unbeaten streak in program history is over, but the hunt for a new streak begins when the No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers return to action against the No. 10 St. Cloud State Huskies. A bye week might be just what the doctor ordered for some of these banged-up Badgers following an early season that’s seen multiple players go down.
The last time we saw Wisconsin (11-1, 7-1 WCHA), they suffered their worst loss in years at the hands of the Gophers before bouncing back with a blowout win.
Now they’ll reset with a trip to St. Cloud.
While some members of the top-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team had last weekend off, others were busy donning the USA sweater for a double-header against Team Canada in the 2025 Rivalry Series, leading up to next year’s Winter Olympics. Team USA won both games, and there were some familiar faces offering familiar contributions.
Laila Edwards stood out for the red, white, and blue, posting four points, including a goal in the second game. She assisted on the opening goal of the series in her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, firing a shot that was deflected into the net. Minnesota’s Abbey Murphy finally used her powers for good, scoring a hat trick in the opening game and joining Edwards with four points. Kirsten Simms provided the primary assist on Murphy’s third goal.
Also scoring a hat trick was Badger legend Hilary Knight, topping off game two with an empty netter in a 6-1 win over Team Canada.
Lacey Eden and Caroline Harvey also saw the ice for Team USA, the latter of which was also recently named HCA and WCHA Defender of the Month. The next two games of the 2025 Rivalry Series are set for December 10 and 13 in Edmonton, right after Wisconsin’s big series against Ohio State.
St. Cloud State (4-8, 1-7-1 WCHA) maintains a cozy ranking based on its daunting schedule to this point. It’s not often a team four games below .500 flirts with the top ten, but the Huskies’ schedule is loaded with top-five opponents. They’ve played Ohio State, Minnesota, Connecticut, and Minnesota Duluth so far, and now they get the unanimous number one.
Twelve games in, St. Cloud State does not feature a double-digit scorer. The offense averages just 2.7 goals per game, and the power play comes into the weekend converting on just four out of 33 attempts.
Sophomore goaltender Emilia Kyrkkö is maybe the most exciting young player for the Huskies, but she hasn’t played in over a month after being helped off the ice against Minnesota. The goaltending behind Kyrkkö hasn’t been optimal; backup netminder Jojo Chobak is surrendering nearly three and a half goals per game with a save percentage under .900.
Wisconsin looks to be healthy, considering both Simms and Edwards returned for Minnesota before playing in the Rivalry Series. Ava Murphy, Laney Potter, and Adéla Šapovalivová all missed the Badgers’ last game, though head coach Mark Johnson indicated before the bye that we could see them soon.
The restart will be a good opportunity to get the wheels rolling for this stretch heading into winter break. Wisconsin will play three WCHA series, culminating with the aforementioned matchup with Ohio State. There’s no telling how different things might look in 2026, with the Badgers and many other WCHA teams losing their top players for Olympic play, but the Badgers are growing accustomed to putting their depth on display this season.
In the meantime, Wisconsin wants to stack wins and keep its players upright in the process. That’s the tried-and-true formula they’ll look to implement with this weekend’s trip to St. Cloud.
Game Info
Date: November 14-15
Time: Friday – 6:00 p.m. | Saturday – 2:00 p.m.
Place: St. Cloud, MN | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center
TV: B1G+ | Radio: 1070 AM
