For the first time since advancing to the 2026 Women’s Frozen Four, Wisconsin women’s hockey plays games this weekend inside LaBahn Arena. A Thursday evening national championship banner raising ceremony will officially close the books on UW’s most-dominant class in program history. Then, it will be time for Wisconsin to acquaint itself with the Boston University Terriers (0-0-0, 0-0-0 Hockey East).
The Terriers open their season in Madison after having an exhibition matchup with the Long Island University Sharks canceled due to inclement weather last weekend. The No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers (2-0-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) look to win their 14th-straight home opener.
To extend that streak, Wisconsin will have to manage the emotions of a banner raising ceremony, and continue to lean on young talent throughout its new-look roster that features 11 players who have yet to play a game inside LaBahn.
Where, when, how to watch Wisconsin women’s hockey vs. Boston University Terriers: Time, radio, streaming info
Where: LaBahn Arena | Madison, WI
When:
Game 1: Thursday, October 1st | 7:00 p.m. Central
Game 2: Friday, October 2nd | 5:00 p.m. Central
Watch:
Game 1: Big Ten Plus
Game 2: Big Ten Plus
Listen/Radio: Fox Sports 1070AM Madison | iHeartRadio
Who to watch: Wisconsin women’s hockey forward Charlotte Pieckenhagen
As a rookie, Charlotte Pieckenhagen scored her first-career goal in her collegiate debut. Now a sophomore, Pieckenhagen flashed again in UW’s season opener, tallying a career-high four points, including a career-high three assists while playing alongside captain Kelly Gorbatenko and center Cassie Hall atop the line chart.
“Charlotte took a big jump for us,” Badgers Associate Head Coach Dan Koch said on Tuesday. “You know, she was a top-nine forward last year, but then, you know, got pushed up to playing with Cassie and Kelly and took advantage of that opportunity.”
Pieckenhagen spent most of her first season playing on Wisconsin’s third line, racking up five goals and nine assists while appearing in 40 of UW’s 41 games. It was during the eight games in which Wisconsin was without its Olympians that Pieckenhagen proved she could be a reliable contributor. During that stretch she contributed six points on for the Badger ‘B-Squad,’ including a run of five points in three games.
After a summer of putting in the work, the 5-foot-10 winger looks primed for more.
“She stuck around all summer; she did a lot of work with Paul [Valukas] our strength coach,” Koch said of the Ontario native. “She’s a very driven individual that has aspiration, you know, higher aspirations.”
Pieckenhagen attended the Hockey Canada National Women’s Development Team camp this summer, but, after not making the final roster for the 2026 Collegiate Select Series against Team USA, Koch said Pieckenhagen “probably came away not as happy as she wanted to be” from the camp.
“But she got some good feedback,” Koch added. “And she took that feedback and criticism and worked on it for the last three weeks prior to coming in in August, at the end of August, and it paid off for her.”
What to Watch: The Badgers’ new third line
The trio of talented forwards listed third on Wisconsin’s line chart on last weekend actually earned a spot in UW’s starting lineup on Saturday. No matter where they are listed, forwards Maggie Scannell, Adéla Šapovalivová, and Nela Lopušanová, burst with offensive potential. In last Friday’s contest, maybe they let that energy get the best of them and failed to get on the score sheet.
“I thought, you know, Friday they started out a little slow, honestly, and then they started you know to connect a few passes,” Koch said. “I thought they were maybe trying to be a little bit too creative and use a lot of skill, and sometimes you just got to get pucks on the net. You got to you got to go to those dirty areas.”
Crashing the net and getting “to those dirty areas” helped Scannell score a pair rebound goals on Saturday when she followed up on shots by Šapovalivová. Lopušanová earned her first collegiate points by also assisting on both goals.
“Obviously, they all bring some special skill level,” Koch said of the group. “There’s their puck protection, their release, their passing and vision. And you know, I think they left the game on Friday knowing that they could do better and and they wanted to you know get on the score sheet and they were hungry and you saw them on Saturday just really simplify things.”
Based on that “special skill level,” this line listed third on the chart could become a matchup nightmare for opposing teams. Scannell captained the Team USA squad that captured a U-18 World Championship in 2024 and she served as captain during the 2026 Collegiate Select series. Šapovalivová competed for the Czech Olympic team in February, and Lopušanová led the Slovak national team in scoring at the 2026 IIHF Division IA Women’s World Championship in April.
Scannell has turned to the language learning app Duolingo for Czech lessons in order to better communicate with her teammates, but hockey is turning out to be something of a universal language with her linemates.
“They’re both such amazing players,” Scannell said of Šapovalivová and Lopušanová. “And it’s just incredible to be able to have like-minded individuals out there where I know exactly where they’re going to be, even though we’re from such different areas of the world. So it’s just so incredible.”
Why to watch: One final send-off for the 2026 champs
Fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 6:40 p.m. for Thursday’s home-opener as Wisconsin raises its record ninth national championship banner to the rafters. The first 1,000 fans in the building will receive a miniature replica of the banner.
Scannell and Gorbatenko said that, for players returning from last year’s championship-winning team, it will be a moment to soak in memories, see alumni, and celebrate with fans.
“We wouldn’t be here without them,” Scannell said of the Badger faithful. “So I think that being able to experience that and just, you know, be able to look around and soak it all in with them, I’m just so excited.”
For the 11 newcomers to the Wisconsin women’s hockey roster, the banner raising is a moment players get to witness firsthand what it would be like to reach the light at the end of the tunnel.
“We have a sign in our locker room that, you know, says, ‘leave a lasting legacy,’” Koch noted. “So I think that gives them the first kind of inspiration to doing that, seeing that banner drop. Even though they weren’t a part of that team, they want to continue that success, our tradition.”
So get to LaBahn early and give one last nod to the ninth title, before the Badgers go to battle for the tenth.
“I’m excited to just kind of you know remember that moment and raise the banner,” Gorbatenko said. “But then you know we got to turn the page and focus on this year after that.”
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.