Badger women's hockey closes regular season with championship opportunity
As St. Cloud State comes to Madison, Wisconsin women's hockey will have to play under lopsided circumstances to capture a WCHA title
Madison, WI — With a regular-season conference title on the line, top-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey welcomes the St. Cloud State Huskies to Madison this weekend. After several current and former Wisconsin Badgers captured gold in Milan, their teammates could win some hardware (and break records) of their own.
Wisconsin (27-3-2, 21-3-2 WCHA) has historically dominated St. Cloud (11-19-2, 7-17-2). The Badgers are 100-9-5 against the Huskies all-time, and UW is on an 11-game unbeaten streak against SCSU. The individual circumstances this weekend, however, are unique, as the Huskies could have their Olympians return while the Badgers will still be shorthanded.
That leaves the Badgers’ next players up to continue holding the ship before head coach Mark Johnson gets his so-called “A-squad players” back in Madison.
Johnson added that whoever is back on either roster “doesn’t matter.”
“Our group, they’ll be ready, they’ll be excited,” the winningest coach in the history of national collegiate women’s ice hockey explained on his weekly radio show. “I’m glad we’re playing at home and I’m anxious to see what we’re able to do on Saturday.”
Who to watch: Lacey Eden on century watch
Earlier this season, Badgers forward Lacey Eden joined Kirsten Simms as one of nine players in program history to eclipse 200 career points. With one more goal, she will join an even more exclusive club.
The WCHA Scholar Athlete currently sits with 99 career goals. The next time Eden finds the back of the net, she will become the fourth Badger ever score 100 or more goals in Madison. Eden would join a club that includes Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Brianna Decker, all-time USA Olympic scoring leader Hilary Knight, and former Team USA captain Meghan Duggan.
“[Eden’s] been a wonderful player the last five years for us, and certainly the last six or seven games has really stepped into a space with her leadership skills and her play and just on a mission to help us win games,” Johnson said of his newly minted team captain. “And doing a lot of little things. I mean, some nights it’s 27, 28, 29 minutes, blocking shots, killing penalties, doing a lot of little things that some players may not want to do, she’s willing to do it.”
The fifth-year forward has amassed a career-high 60 points this season, including 41 in just the last 18 games. She currently sits fifth all-time on the program leaderboard in career scoring totals with 229 points.
What to watch: Can short-handed Wisconsin handle full-strength St. Cloud?
In each of Wisconsin’s past three series, the Badgers have not been the only team shorthanded due to the Olympics. The Minnesota Golden Gophers and Ohio State Buckeyes were both missing star players. The Minnesota State Mavericks were not missing any players on their roster due to the Games, but MSU head coach Shari Dickerman was serving as an assistant coach for Team USA.
This weekend, the playing field (er-ice?) will not be so even.
Although Wisconsin will still be without its five Olympians, St. Cloud might have its full roster available. Four Huskies competed in Milan.
Emilia Kyrkkö returns, giving SCSU head coach Mira Jalosuo both halves of her goaltending tandem (along with Jojo Chobak). Kyrkkö leads the Huskies with a .939 save percentage (the 10th-best mark nationally) and a 2.02 goals-against-average. Defender and Kyrkkö’s Finnish teammate, Siiri Yrjölä, also makes her return. Yrjölä’s 31 blocks are the second-most among all Huskies.
After helping Switzerland capture a bronze medal, St. Cloud forward Laura Zimmermann could give the Huskies a lift. Before leaving for the Olympics, the redshirt junior was SCSU’s third-leading goal-scorer.
Before making her Olympic debut for Germany, Svenja Voigt tallied two goals and five assists in 26 games this season for the Huskies.
Why to watch: A championship opportunity
An Ohio State win on Friday night has, if only for a moment, given the Buckeyes a one-point lead in the WCHA conference standings over the Badgers. If Wisconsin earns four points this weekend (by nature of any two victories, or a regulation win and overtime/shootout loss), it will clinch the regular-season conference title.
More likely than not, the championship will not be awarded until Sunday. For Wisconsin to capture its first back-to-back regular-season WCHA championship since 2021, it would need to beat the Huskies and need Ohio State to lose to the Bemidji State Beavers on Saturday. OSU is currently riding a 20-game win streak over BSU.
The Buckeyes and Beavers drop the puck on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Central in Bemidji, so regardless, the conference champion will not yet be known when the final buzzer sounds in Madison on Saturday afternoon.
When, where, how to watch Wisconsin women’s hockey vs Bemidji State: Streaming, radio
Where: LaBahn Arena — University of Wisconsin-Madison — Madison, WI
Listen/Radio: 1070 AM The Game // iHeart Radio (Play-by-play: Paul Braun; Analyst: Mark Greenhalgh)
Game 1
When: Saturday, February 21, 2026 — 1:00 p.m. Central
Watch/Streaming: Big Ten Plus
Game 2
When: Sunday, February 22, 2026 — 11:00 am. Central
Watch/Streaming: Big Ten Plus
Thank you for visiting BadgerBreakaway.com – With your support, we are quickly becoming a leading independent source for news, analysis, and intel on the Wisconsin Badgers hockey and basketball teams.