After closing out the first portion of its non-conference schedule undefeated, the top-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team is headed on the road to open conference play to defend its position atop the polls. The Ohio State Buckeyes opened up the season at No. 2 in the national rankings, but earned the nod as the preseason favorite to win the conference in the WCHA coaches poll to win the conference.
Neither powerhouse will be at full-strength this weekend, but the programs that have combined to take the last seven national titles are back for another bout.
The Wisconsin Badgers (2-0-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) travel to Columbus this weekend as Ohio State prepares for its home opener. UW has bested OSU in back-to-back national title games, but the perennial title contenders have evenly split their last four meetings: both teams have gone 2-2 in those contests, both scoring a combined nine goals.
What typically is assured to be a dramatic, high-level series however, has fallen under a bit of a cloud as national team absences and injuries will challenge both head coaches to get the best out of their available talent.
Where, when, how to watch Wisconsin women’s hockey vs Ohio State: Time, radio, streaming info
Where: Ohio State Ice Rink — Ohio State University — Columbus, OH
When:
Game 1: Friday, October 9, 2026 — 6:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. CT
Game 2: Saturday, October 10, 2026 — 3:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m CT
Watch:
Game 1: Big Ten Plus
Game 2: Big Ten Plus
Listen/Radio: 1070 AM // iHeartRadio
Who to watch: Cassie Hall in transition
With four games as a senior under her belt, Cassie Hall is tied for the national lead in goals (5) and points (8). The center is consistently creating offensive opportunities with her speed, tallying five of her eight points in transition, and her coaches are taking notice.
“She’s skating well. I mean, she’s skating really well,” UW head coach Mark Johnson said following his team’s 4-1 victory over the Boston University Terriers. “And you know, she scored a couple nice goals last weekend, but, you know, she’s doing some things that, you know, we’ve asked her to do and she’s executing on them. Where she’s cutting into the, you know, the offensive zone around a defenseman and taking it into the blue paint and creating opportunities with that.”
The South Lyon, Michigan has been creating goals in exactly the fashion Johnson described with regularity. Whether it is a power-play assist by taking the puck coast to coast or getting the puck midway through the neutral zone and just tucking it past a goaltender (twice!), Hall is seemingly executing exactly in ways the Wisconsin Badgers staff believes she can.
Equally impressive to Hall’s speed, is her awareness when the skating skill is not enough to get behind a defense. First, see this goal scored in transition thanks to an excellently-placed shot to the far side of the net.
And later on opening night, Hall tallied an assist by completely redirecting a play at the bottom of the faceoff circle and feeding Kelly Gorbatenko in front of the net.
Whether or not Hall can replicate this early-season success against a team in Ohio State that is more equipped to match Wisconsin’s speed is yet to be determined. If UW does manage to return to Madison with WCHA points in its pocket, Hall will have to play an active role in creating and facilitating offensive opportunities, especially with Kelly Gorbatenko’s uncertain injury status.
What to watch: Wisconsin hockey vs. Ohio State forecheck
Under head coach Nadine Muzerall, the Ohio State women’s hockey team has developed a reputation for its unrelenting forecheck. Throughout the past handful of years as UW and OSU have battled for supremacy, the Buckeyes have often caused the Badger breakout fits.
With that challenge on the horizon, Wisconsin heads to Columbus missing a few pieces of its new-look blue line.
Life without former Badgers defenders Caroline Harvey and Vivianne Jungels in the WCHA begins in earnest this weekend, meanwhile, Hockey Canada is leaving the Badgers down two of its top four defenders still on the roster.
Ava Murphy and Emma Venusio both received invitations to Canada’s development camp ahead of next month’s IIHF Women’s World Championship. Mackenzie Jones has yet to make her sophomore debut and was wearing a boot on her right foot while sitting in the stands during Wisconsin’s win inside LaBahn Arena on Friday.
If Jones does not play this weekend, Laney Potter will be the lone defender with more than four games of experience in a Badgers jersey in the lineup as Wisconsin faces perhaps the most uniquely challenging opponent in the sport.
UW rookie forward Rosalie Tremblay, and OSU forwards Jocelyn Amos and Hayley McDonald will also be out of the lineup to attend Canada’s development camp. Amos was the Buckeyes’ second-leading scorer a season ago with 27 goals and 25 assists.
Why to watch: It’s still No. 1 vs No. 2!
Just as it was last time, and the 16 times before that, when Wisconsin and Ohio State share the ice this weekend, they will do so as the top-ranked teams in the country. Regardless of who is in and who is out, if the game is played indoors or outdoors, the game counts just the same in the conference standings and NPI.
There will still be tremendous players on both sides. Badgers goaltender Ava McNaughton and Buckeyes single-season scoring record holder Joy Dunne won Olympic gold earlier this year for Team USA and will likely join forces again for the US at the World Championships. Ohio State has started all three of its goaltenders on its roster this season as Muzerall tries to determine what life after Hailey MacLeod looks like while Wisconsin rookie Nela Lopušanová is living up to sky-high expectations.
When these teams meet next, in the final weekend of the regular season. The line charts might be unrecognizable, but the conference points earned this weekend in October will almost certainly play a significant role in the race for the Julianne Bye Cup in February.
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