Wisconsin blanks Ohio State to win record-setting 7th NCAA women's ice hockey championship

DULUTH, Minn. – The women's ice hockey championship trophy is coming back to Madison.

Wisconsin scored a 1-0 victory over Ohio State in final of the College Women's Ice Hockey Championship Sunday afternoon at AMSOIL Arena on the campus of Minnesota-Duluth to give the Badgers a record-setting seventh national title — the most of any women's program.

The victory capped a tournament run that include victories over the tournament’s top three seeds. The Badgers (29-10-2) defeated No. 3 Colgate in the regional final, No. 2 Minnesota in the national semifinal and finally the defending national champion Buckeyes.

Freshman Kirsten Simms’ goal at the 13:28 mark of the first period was the lone score of the game.

Senior goalie Cami Kronish did the rest. She turned away 31 shots and was named the most valuable player of the Frozen Four.

“I give a lot of credit to Cami, our goaltender,” Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson said. “I mean, she came up big.

“She took the torch this year. She has worked hard for five years and this is the first year she really got an opportunity to play,” he continued. “She wanted the baton, she took us to the end and today she was the difference in the game.”

The title marked the third championship for Wisconsin seniors Kronish, Nicole LaMantia, Sophie Shirley, Natalie Buchbinder and Britta Curl.

Wisconsin, which lost five consecutive games at one point in January, has won three of the last four national championships (2019, ’21 and ’23 – 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19). The Badgers have appeared in an NCAA-leading 14 of the last 17 Frozen Fours.

Ohio State (33-6-2), which entered play having scored at least two goals in every game but one this season, was shut out for the first time in the last 57 matches, dating to a 1-0 loss to Minnesota-Duluth – which the Buckeyes later beat in the 2022 national championship game – on Jan. 21, 2022. Ohio State finished the season tied with the Badgers for second in the country with 169 goals, seven fewer than Minnesota.

“I thought in the last month we’ve been in a good space and in a good position, playing very well,” Johnson said. “You look at our body of work over the last three games, at (No. 3 seed) Colgate, (second-seeded) Minnesota and then Ohio State, three of the best teams in the country and we were able to get by them.”

Wisconsin improved to 27-1-1 this season when leading after two periods.

The Buckeyes won three of four games against the Badgers in the regular season by a combined score of 15-8, with their lone loss coming 6-5 in overtime at Wisconsin on Feb. 18.

Contributing: The Associated Press