The top-ranked Wisconsin Badgers will square off against the Minnesota State Mavericks to get the party started in St. Paul with the first game of the 2026 Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff. Wisconsin advanced following a two-game sweep of Bemidji State in the first round, while the Mavericks upset No. 9 Minnesota Duluth after dropping the first game and rebounding to win the next two on the road.
Wisconsin (31-3-2, 23-3-2 WCHA) is seeking its 12th WCHA Tournament title and looking to go back-to-back for
the first time since the 2016 and 2017 tournaments. They do so after shaking off a bit of the rust from the Olympic break that saw five players competing in the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games; though there wasn’t much rust to be seen in the 7-0 win over Bemidji State in the WCHA tournament opener. It did, however, start to show up in game two, requiring a Laila Edwards overtime goal to send the Badgers into the semifinal.
No. 13 Minnesota State (17-18-2, 9-17-2 WCHA) has a history against Wisconsin that they’d like to rewrite in the WCHA semifinal. The Mavericks are 3-113-3 in the all-time series with the Badgers, including four losses this season. Wisconsin swept Minnesota State in a series shutout in Madison before winning 4-1 and 5-1 in Mankato with the “B-Squad.”
The Badgers have not had much of an issue scoring against Minnesota State (or anyone, really) this season, but junior goaltender Hailey Hansen has been solid in the crease for the Mavericks. Considering the WCHA competition she sees night in and night out, giving up 2.74 goals per game and saving over 91 percent of shots faced is admirable.
Hansen has only given up more than three goals to teams not named Wisconsin, Ohio State, or Minnesota on three occasions this year. It just so happens she was tasked with facing the nation’s top three teams at least 12 times this season. That’s life in the WCHA, but Hansen has proven to be a quality goaltender at this level, a player the Badgers will need to solve once more to advance to the conference championship game.
The beauty of Wisconsin’s offense is that everybody gets involved. Great facilitators and unselfish players are a staple of the Badgers’ formula for success, and they just showed us the depth of contributions with everyone stepping up in the absence of Caroline Harvey, Kirsten Simms, Laila Edwards, Ava McNaughton, and Adéla Šapovalivová.
Fifth-year forward Lacey Eden, who was named interim captain in Harvey’s absence, was named WCHA Forward of the Month after posting 17 points in February and taking over the national lead in both points and assists. She was joined by freshman Rhyah Stewart, who earned WCHA Rookie of the Month honors after stepping in for Ava McNaughton and keeping the ship steady en route to the WCHA regular season championship, which included big wins over both Ohio State and Minnesota.
As for the annual WCHA awards, the wire-to-wire number one team throughout the regular season was well represented. After being named the Olympic MVP, it’s only fitting that Caroline Harvey was announced as the WCHA Player of the Year, in addition to her unprecedented back-to-back-to-back WCHA Defender of the Year recognition.
The man behind the bench, Mark Johnson, was named WCHA Coach of the Year for the second-straight season, and for the 11th time in his career.
Eden was a finalist for WCHA Forward of the Year, which went to Minnesota’s Abbey Murphy, while McNaughton was a finalist for WCHA Goaltender of the Year, which went to Minnesota Duluth’s Ève Gascon for the second year in a row. McNaughton had the last laugh a year ago when she was eventually named Goalie of the Year by the Hockey Commissioners Association. I wouldn’t hold my breath for a repeat with Connecticut’s Tia Chan, the likely favorite for any national goaltender awards. Chan is a top PWHL prospect and was recently named a top ten finalist for this year’s Patty Kazmaier Award.
Speaking of the Patty Kaz, Wisconsin boasts four of the top ten finalists for the second consecutive year. The Badgers cracking the top ten this year are Caroline Harvey, Lacey Eden, Kirsten Simms, and Laila Edwards.
The process behind this year’s decision is a mystery, with statistical production possibly being less of a factor, considering the amount of time missed by Olympic players. It will be interesting to see who remains when the finalists are whittled down for the ceremony in a few weeks, but my guess is that it comes down to Abbey Murphy or Caroline Harvey. The bias in me favors Harvey, seeing as she’s the Olympic MVP and maybe the best two-way player in the entire women’s game.
But I digress, the awards are for the fans to bicker about more than anything. The only validation this team seeks is in the form of the banners hanging at LaBahn Arena, and there is one on the line this weekend. Should the Badgers get past Minnesota State, a rematch against either Ohio State or Minnesota would await in the championship game. So, here’s to hoping Wisconsin takes care of business on Thursday to set up an Olympic-level rematch on Saturday with either the Gophers or the Buckeyes.
2026 Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff
Semifinal
Date: March 5
Time: Wisconsin vs. Minnesota State – 4:02 p.m. | Ohio State vs. Minnesota – 7:32 p.m.
Place: St. Paul, Minn. | Lee and Penny Anderson Ice Arena
TV: B1G+ | Radio: 1070 AM
Championship
Date: March 7
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Place: St. Paul, Minn. | Lee and Penny Anderson Ice Arena
TV: B1G+ | Radio: 1070 AM (if UW advances)
