It’s a big weekend for the Wisconsin Badgers, making their 17th appearance in the Frozen Four on Friday night when they take on the third-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions. Wisconsin blanked Quinnipiac last weekend to punch their ticket, while Penn State knocked off UConn to advance to their first Frozen Four in program history.
Penn State (33-5-0 overall) is traditionally thought of as a Big Ten program, but in women’s hockey they represent Atlantic Hockey America and don’t often cross over into WCHA
play. The Badgers and Nittany Lions have only met four times, last splitting a series in 2022. The last matchup with Penn State marked the debut of a historic class of Badgers that includes Kirsten Simms, Laila Edwards, and Caroline Harvey, who will all wrap up their collegiate careers one way or another this weekend.
The Badgers (33-4-2 overall) are the higher-seeded team, but Penn State has home ice on their side with the Frozen Four being hosted at Pegula Ice Arena in Happy Valley, all but assuring a strong turnout for the home team.
The rankings have been dominated all year by the traditional WCHA juggernauts, but Penn State has held firm in the top five since Thanksgiving following their 16-0 start. The Nittany Lions split a series earlier this year against Northeastern, who will play Ohio State in the other Frozen Four matchup on Friday. Wisconsin and Penn State don’t have many common opponents this year, though the Nittany Lions did drop two games against the Buckeyes back in January.
Wisconsin’s star power is well documented at this point, but Penn State features an All-American talent of their own in forward Tessa Janecke, who joins Caroline Harvey and Minnesota’s Abbey Murphy among the top three finalists for the 2026 Patty Kazmaier award, the winner of which will be announced on Saturday. Janecke has 46 points on the year averages over a point and a half per game and played on Team USA’s gold medal squad in the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
It’s not a one-woman show in Happy Valley though, Penn State boasts another 40-point scorer in forward Grace Outwater, and two additional 30-plus point scorers in forwards Maddy Christian and Katelyn Roberts. As a unit the Nittany Lions rank fourth in total goals, albeit against weaker competition than you see week in and week out in the WCHA.
The most important statistic for Penn State going into Friday’s matchup is that they lead the nation in scoring defense, allowing only 1.32 goals per game. That ranking will be put to the test against a Wisconsin offense that has consistently blown the doors off teams this year and averages over five goals per contest.
The Badgers can get their goals from anywhere and just became more lethal with Laila Edwards returning to her full-time role as a forward, where she led the NCAA in goals last season. Kelly Gorbatenko recorded her second hat trick of the season in last week’s win over Quinnipiac and has continued to emerge as the heir apparent scorer to this remarkable class of seniors. Then you add gifted scorers like Lacey Eden, Kirsten Simms, and Olympic MVP Caroline Harvey to the mix and Penn State certainly has their work cut out for them.
Should Kirsten Simms find the back of the net this weekend she would become the fifth Badger ever to score 100 career goals, where she’d join Brianna Decker, Hilary Knight, Meghan Duggan, and Lacey Eden, who reached the milestone just a few weeks ago.
For the Badgers to have success against Penn State they just need to continue playing their game. Wisconsin is on a war path following the WCHA Final Faceoff loss to Ohio State and appears dead set on getting their lick back if the two teams can meet in the NCAA championship game for the fourth consecutive season. To do so, they’ll have to maneuver their way through the semifinal in hostile territory against an opponent hungry to prove they belong amongst the women’s hockey bluebloods.
Between Penn State’s home ice advantage and the well-traveled Wisconsin fanbase, Friday night’s atmosphere in Happy Valley is sure to be electric. A really special group of seniors will bid farewell to their collegiate careers this weekend, they just hope they’ll be able to write one final chapter in their swan song on Sunday afternoon.
Game Info
Date: Friday, March 20
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Place: University Park, Pa. | Pegula Ice Arena
TV: ESPN+ | Radio: 1070 AM
