(UW ATHLETICS) UNIVERSITY PARK, PA — Senior forward Claire Enright scored with just seven minutes to go in the third period to lift the Wisconsin women’s hockey team to a 3-2 win over Ohio State and the program’s ninth NCAA championship.
Badgers coach Mark Johnson talked about the win and the NCAA championship.
Enright talked about her game-winning goal.
Enright doesn’t want to take credit but she will always be remembered as the person who scored the game-winning goal and give Wisconsin it’s second straight and ninth overall NCAA title.
The Badgers (35-4-2) took an early lead when Kelly Gorbatenko redirected a shot from Adéla Šapovalivová just two minutes into the first period to give UW a 1-0 advantage.
With 12:26 remaining in the first, Laney Potter made it 2-0, slipping the puck between the goaltender’s pad and the post after taking a pass from Gorbatenko.
The second period remained scoreless for both teams, but goaltender Ava McNaughton made some incredible saves during the 20 minutes.
The Buckeyes added back-to-back goals in the third period to tie things up.
Enright drove to the net from the right boards after taking a pass from Marianne Picard and finished with less than six minutes remaining to give UW the lead back. It marked Enright’s second career game-winning goal.
McNaughton was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament after recording 34 saves in the national championship.
Notes of the Game
- The Badgers captured their ninth NCAA title, the most of any school in the country. It also marked UW’s fifth NCAA title since 2019.
- It marks the first time a team has repeated as the NCAA women’s hockey national champion since Clarkson won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018.
- It marked Enright’s second point on a game-winning goal in an NCAA title game as she assisted on Kirsten Simms’ game-winning goal in the 2023 NCAA Championship.
- Lacey Eden won her fourth national championship, the most of any player in program history.
- McNaughton became the fourth Badger netminder named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament, joining the likes of Jessie Vetter (2009), Kristen Campbell (2019) and Cami Kronish (2023).
- McNaughton was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Caroline Harvey, Kirsten Simms and Laila Edwards.
- Wisconsin’s 35 wins this year are tied for the fourth-most in program history.
Up Next: Wisconsin will host a welcome home event for the nine-time national champions on Monday night at LaBahn Arena. The event is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m
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