Badger women's hockey makes key NCAA Tournament lineup swap
Wisconsin women's hockey will need to find ways to score tough goals in the NCAA Tournament; moving Laila Edwards could help
Madison, WI — Goals come at a premium in the playoffs. The last time Wisconsin women’s hockey hit the ice in the WCHA Final Faceoff, UW managed just one goal in a loss to the team that has been the biggest thorn in its side over the past four seasons.
As it opens NCAA Tournament play, Wisconsin faces one of the best defenses in the country. And the Badgers are slated to put last year’s goal-scoring champion back in her natural position.
The Wisconsin Badgers and Quinnipiac Bobcats face off tomorrow afternoon with a spot in the Frozen Four up for grabs. Wisconsin had a bye through the regional semifinal; Quinnipiac advanced to Saturday’s game after defeating the Franklin Pierce Ravens 4-0 on Thursday evening in Madison.
Now, as the Badgers face a Bobcats team that boasts both one of the best goal-scorers and one of the best goal-stoppers in the country, enter Wisconsin forward Laila Edwards.
What to watch: A positional change for a Laila Edwards
In practices open to the media on Tuesday and Friday, Edwards was lined up at forward. The versatile threat has played both positions this season (including playing defense for Team USA in the 2026 Olympic Games), but, apart from one shift at the end of the second period against Ohio State last weekend, she has not played on the wing since returning from Italy.
“Just tried something new, and something that we’ve seen before that’s been successful, and trying to get somebody else within our group some looks or some chances or some puck possession,” Johnson said in an interview following the WCHA Playoff title game about that one shift.
Whether it was on that one shift, in practice, or something else, the Badgers, apparently, have seen enough. Edwards will not be on the blue line against Quinnipiac. At least, not at first.
“The setting we have here at Wisconsin is a different setting than the national team and the Olympic team have with their group, and so knowing the best interest of what we want to try to do, we’ll give her an opportunity up front tomorrow. Similar to some of the games we played, especially before Christmas time, and her in that position.” Johnson said in an interview on Friday. “We’ve had long conversations the last six or seven months about going back and forth. She wants to do whatever is in the best interest of the team. And so you look at her body of work over the last four years here, when she’s on the ice, and she’s playing up to her capability, she’s a factor in the game. And so we just think tomorrow, we’ll start in that that role, and we’ll see how the game transpires and looks.”
Wisconsin’s offense has been nothing to sneeze at this season. The Badgers score 5.26 goals per game and are the only team in the country that scores more than 4.50 per contest.
Against a Quinnipiac team that allows only 1.55 goals per game, the third-best mark nationally, backstopped by ECAC Goaltender of the Year Felicia Frank, who is one of only three netminders to post double-digit shutouts this season (and whose .944 save percentage is the fourth-best mark in the country), goals could be especially hard to muster.
As a junior, Edwards led the nation with 35 goals in 41 games. This year, she has found the back of the net only ten times in 25 appearances with the Badgers.
Who to watch: The nation’s leading goal-scorer
The current leading goal-scorer in the country resides in Hamden, Connecticut. She will be wearing navy and gold in Madison on Saturday.
Quinnipiac’s Kahlen Lamarche has found the back of the net 42 times this season. She is the first player in Division I to score 42 goals in a single campaign since Daryl Watts did so at Boston College and became the first rookie to ever win the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award in 2018.
Lamarche was a dynamic scoring and playmaking threat against Franklin Pierce on Thursday. At times, the junior forward used her speed to possess the puck seemingly at will, logging a game-high seven shots on goal. With 22 assists, her 64 points are second-most in the country (trailing only Wisconsin captain Lacey Eden’s 73), and she assisted on both of QU’s second-period goals to help break the scoreless tie with FPU.
“I think that as we’ve moved through the playoffs, you know, we certainly got a lot of goals from Kahlen Lamarche throughout the year, but you get in the playoffs, and you see people try to shut her down in a different way,” Bobcats head coach Cassandra Turner said Friday.
Defenses know to key in on Lamarche, but often cannot stop her. The 5-foot-5 Sudbury, Ontario native has scored over 30% of her team’s goals this season (her linemate Emerson Jarvis’ 17 goals are second-most on the team). When you factor in Lamarche’s assists, she has tallied a point on nearly half of Quinnipiac’s 137 goals.
Not only that, but after taking a puck near her neck and returning to the game without missing a shift on Thursday, Lamarche showed she is quite resilient.
“Kahlen might be the toughest player I’ve ever coached,” Turner said after the game Thursday. “I don’t think much is gonna hold her back. And, you know, it will be nice to have a day off and get ready to go. I think that’s the nature of the tournament. You get that first game, and every once in a while, you might get a couple bumps and bruises and but she she’s a resilient hockey player and so determined and wants to find a way to help her team, and whatever that might look like.”
Why to watch: Send-off for a special senior class
The nine members of this Wisconsin women’s hockey senior graduating class have each left quite a mark on the Wisconsin Badgers. Those who have been in Madison for four years have already won a pair of national titles. The likes of Lacey Eden, Kirsten Simms, and Caroline Harvey find their names littered throughout UW’s program record book.
On Saturday, they play for the fans inside LaBahn Arena one last time with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line.
“There’s going to be a lot of energy in the building,” Johnson said of the home-ice advantage Wisconsin will enjoy against Quinnipiac. “You know, we’re accustomed to that. We see it every weekend when we play at home.”
Those seniors have enjoyed considerable success both as a team and individually, both at home and on the road. Vivian Jungels, Eden, and Harvey will almost certainly finish their time in Madison with the three best plus/minus figures in program history. Laila Edwards is currently ninth on that list.
“It’ll be our last opportunity to play in front of our home fans and, for our seniors, it’ll be their last opportunity to experience that,” Johnson added.
Where, when, how to watch Wisconsin women’s hockey in NCAA Tournament: TV, streaming, radio
Where: LaBahn Arena — University of Wisconsin-Madison — Madison, WI
When: Saturday, March 14, 2026 — 1:00 p.m. Central
Watch/Streaming: ESPN+
Listen/Radio: 1070 AM The Game — iHeart Radio
