Badger women's hockey faces Team USA teammate in Frozen four
Wisconsin women's hockey goes to battle against Tessa Janecke, the Penn State defense, and the expectation's of Mark Johnson's mail carrier in the Frozen Four
University Park, PA — One final weekend awaits this Wisconsin women’s hockey team. Participating in the Frozen Four has become a common occurrence for the Wisconsin Badgers. Head coach Mark Johnson never takes it for granted because the winningest head coach in the history of NCAA women’s ice hockey knows “how hard and difficult it is,” even if it can be hard to describe to his mailman.
Earlier this week, Johnson recalled a conversation with his mail carrier to describe the battle of managing sky-high expectations in Madison. Years ago, the postal worker stopped by Johnson’s house and asked the coach if everything was okay because the Badgers had only won 4-3 over the weekend.
The same interaction happened again after Wisconsin lost a game, but Johnson assured the letter carrier that “it’s part of the process.”
“But when expectations are high, you know, it adds a little bit of, whatever you want to call it, stress, pressure, and how can you handle it?” the first women’s hockey coach to eclipse 700 wins added.
No. 2 Wisconsin (33-4-2, 24-3-2 WCHA) looks to handle the challenge in its Frozen Four semifinal matchup with the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions (33-5-0, 22-2-0 AHA) this evening. PSU boasts one of the best players in the country, a stout defense, and potentially a real home-ice advantage playing in its first-ever Frozen Four and getting to do so on home ice.
Wisconsin will lean into those expectations and rely on the habits built early and consistently throughout the season in hopes of advancing to a fourth-straight national title game.
“You’re six periods away from maybe being national champions, but knowing that each step now is more challenging and more difficult,” Johnson said. “So your focus stays on Penn State, and what can we do to give ourselves a chance to win that game.”
Who to watch: Tessa Janecke
Before Tessa Janecke arrived at Penn State, the Nittany Lions had never won more than 18 games in a season, had never won a conference tournament championship, and had never been to an NCAA Tournament. In her four years on campus, PSU has accomplished each of those feats four times.
“She’s a rising tide that’s lifted all the boats,” Penn State head coach Jeff Kampersal, the national coach of the year, said of his captain. “She came as—not only on the ice, but like off the ice, had set the standards in the weight room, and then connecting teammates along the way.”
Saying that Penn State hockey’s all-time scoring leader (in men’s or women’s hockey) has helped transform her program is an understatement. In her rookie year, the Orangeville, Illinois native earned the USCHO Rookie of the Year Award. Now, she is a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, leading PSU to its first-ever Frozen Four, on home ice no less, in her senior year.
“We knew coming in that it was going to be here in 2026,” Janecke said Thursday, recalling the Frozen Four played at Penn State in 2022 before she arrived in State College. “And that that was going to be our senior year, and we wanted to be in it.”
The dynamic forward’s 1.53 collegiate points per game rank ninth nationally this season. She also tallied five assists at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, the sixth-most among all skaters in the tournament, to help Team USA win gold. Janecke also scored the overtime game-winner in the gold-medal game at the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championships.
Wisconsin’s Caroline Harvey, Laila Edwards, Kirsten Simms, and Ava McNaughton teamed up with Janecke at the Olympics, but now face her on opposite benches with a spot in the national title game on the line.
Badgers captain Lacey Eden, who has played alongside Janecke at three World Championships, described Janecke as “a competitor,” adding that “she’s strong, she’s fast, and she’s willing to do what it takes to win.”
“Every time she’s on the ice, I’ll know where she is,” Eden stated.
What to watch: No. 1 offense vs No. 1 defense
No team in the country scores more goals than Wisconsin’s 5.28 per game. No team in the country allows fewer goals than Penn State’s 1.32 per game. Buckle up.
In fairness, this is far from an old-fashioned meeting of an offensive juggernaut and defensive stalwart. The Badgers sit just behind the Nittany Lions in team defense, and PSU boasts the fourth-most prolific offense in the country. Still, for Penn State to pull off the upset, it will have to rely on its defensive habits to take away time and space from UW’s bevvy of playmakers.
“We try to limit as many shots as possible,” Kampersal said. “Playing against Wisconsin obviously presents a new challenge in terms of the depth that they have.”
Backstopping the Nittany Lions is national leader in shutouts, Katie DeSa. The program leader in single-season and career shutouts (25) has won back-to-back AHA conference goaltender of the year honors and ranks ninth in save percentage, stopping 93.9% of shots on goal.
Kampersal said, “If we do get in trouble, Katie’s back there to help.” Still, Wisconsin still boasts three of the top five and four of the top ten scorers in the country, so defending the area inside the faceoff dots and preventing those offensive threats from getting in front of DeSa remains the goal, however lofty.
“As long as we maintain like, seven or eight habits that they know, that’s ingrained in their head by now, then we can try to lock things down,” said Kampersal.
Why to watch: Get that bad taste out of your mouth and watch some record-breaking.
Apologies for bringing up High Point’s one-point upset victory over Wisconsin basketball yesterday, but Wisconsin Badgers fans probably need a palate cleanser after watching that. There is perhaps none better than Wisconsin women’s hockey, in its NCAA-record 17th Frozen Four, seeking to capture a record ninth national title and its first back-to-back championships since 2006-2007.
Plus, the usual suspects are on record-book watch. Harvey is one goal shy of setting a single-season record by a defender and one point shy of becoming the first blue-liner ever to eclipse 200 career points. Edwards is not far behind with 196 career points as she sits on the cusp of joining the nine other Badgers currently in the 200-point club.
Meanwhile, Simms, the national championship hero from a season ago, is sitting with 99 career goals. Her first-ever came inside Pegula Arena, and now she could become the fifth player in program history to reach the century mark inside the same building en route to a national title.
When, where, how to watch Wisconsin women’s hockey in Frozen Four
Where: Pegula Ice Arena — Penn State University — University Park, PA
When: Friday, March 20th — 6:30 p.m. Central
Watch/Streaming: ESPN+ // TSN+
Listen/Radio: 1070 AM The Game // iHeart Radio (Play-by-play: Paul Braun; Analyst: Mark Greenhalgh)
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