2025 WCHA Final Faceoff Semis Preview

It is semifinals time everyone! The top four teams in the conference are in the semis and two of them will make it to the finals but they have to get through Friday's matchup first. We preview the semis and even predict who will win! All times Central.

Bracket update:

A visual if you need it.

Let's begin!

No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 4 Minnesota Duluth

Friday at 1 PM

We begin with the early game on Friday. Top-ranked Wisconsin faces Minnesota Duluth at home. The Badgers enter the semis having shutout Bemidji State in the first round while Duluth played a close series against St. Cloud State and swept the series. 

This season: The defending Final Faceoff champion Badgers swept the regular season series against the Bulldogs this year. They scored a combined 16 goals in those four games. In the first game, Wisconsin scored at least one goal in each period and put up five goals on WCHA Goaltender of the Year finalist Ève Gascon. The following game the Badgers scored three goals in both the second and third periods for a dominant 7-3 win. The two met again in January where both games ended in a 2-1 win. A bright spot in that series was that the Bulldogs were able to slow down the Badgers in those two games only allowing two goals in each contest. Wisconsin won the first game in overtime and the second game in comeback fashion after trailing 1-0 entering the third period.

So Duluth went winless against the Badgers this season but did hold a lead in the final two games of the regular season and have some great talent on their team that can help them defeat Wisconsin. First, it starts in net with Gascon. She has the second lowest goals against average in the conference with a 1.85 and is also second in save percentage in the conference with a .943 average. She leads the conference in saves per game with 30.59 and faced at least 40 shots in the last two games against the Badgers.

In those same games the Badgers only scored twice each time down from the five and seven goals allowed earlier in the season. But the Bulldogs only scored once in both those games, so the offense is going to have to put in work. Rookie sensation Caitlin Kraemer who scored 18 goals so far and Olivia Mobley who has 17 goals and Clara Van Wieren has 16, those are the ones who can get on the scoresheet and build a lead for Duluth. Mobley leads the NCAA in shorthanded goals with four while the team has seven in total. So that can prove useful if the Bulldogs find themselves on the penalty kill. Duluth also get offense from others on the team including Olivia Wallin who scored the game winner against the Huskies last Friday with seconds left in the game.

On the other hand, this is Wisconsin, the top-ranked team in the nation and a team with only one loss this entire season. Their offense is the best in the conference with --a stat I love to include now– a 5.56 goals scored per game average. They lead the conference in power play percentage and in penalty kill percentage so your best bet is playing a good, clean 5-on-5 game against them. Their killer offense also comes in play with how many goals players have scored: Laila Edwards leads the way with 30 while Casey O’Brien has 24 and Lacey Eden has 23 – that’s three of the top five goal scorers in the conference and three of the top 10 in the NCAA playing on one team. Edwards, O'Brien and teammate Kirsten Simms are also nominated for WCHA Forward of the Year.

A lot of talent with the forwards there. Right behind them in net is another WCHA Goaltender of the Year finalist in Ava McNaughton. She faced Duluth all four times this season averaging more than 20 saves in each game and allowing six goals in the entire regular season series. Her numbers are good, she shut out Bemidji State in the quarterfinals and is above Gascon in almost all the goalie stats in the conference. She has a 1.13 goals against average and a .949 save percentage too. McNaughton was also recently named the WCHA Goaltending Champion after recording a 1.28 goals against average in conference games only. So, she's solid. There is no secret formula for Wisconsin to win, they have to keep doing what they’ve been doing every weekend. For Duluth, getting the offense going and finding ways to score on McNaughton could be the difference maker for them.

No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Minnesota

Friday at 4:30 PM

These two teams played some close games in the regular season. In their first meetings in October, Ohio State won a back-and-forth game 4-3 and the following night, the Buckeyes managed a shootout win after ending the game tied at one. When the two met on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 the results were very different. Minnesota managed a 3-1 win in the first game with a great outing by goaltender Hannah Clark. The second of the series was a different story. Ohio State came out of the gate surging with Sloane Matthews collecting a hat trick en route to a 7-3 Buckeyes win.

Last weekend, Ohio State took care of St. Thomas, without captain Jenna Buglioni, by winning both games in the series with scores of 5-1 and 4-1. Minnesota was part of the only series that went three games in the first round. They played a memorable double overtime game on Saturday against Minnesota State that ended with less than five seconds remaining in that double OT. The Gophers were able to bounce back and win the series on Sunday with a huge 6-2 win.

Let’s dive in to what sets these teams apart and even what they do similarly as we preview their tilt on Friday afternoon.

As a team, the Buckeyes lead the conference in shots on goal per game. They average 39.94 shots on goal with Wisconsin the only other team with an average that is also at 39. That is a barrage of shots to face from a team and the fact that they also average about four goals a game makes sense when you’re not afraid to to get pucks in deep. One of those players is Jocelyn Amos who is arguably one of the best forwards in the conference not on the Wisconsin team. She scored 25 goals, recorded 10 of those on the power play; good for first in the conference and tied for first in the league as well.

The Buckeyes also have Joy Dunne and Jenna Buglioni who scored 23 and 17 goals so far. Matthews had the aforementioned hat trick against the Gophers the last time these two teams met last month. It was the second time in the past year that the Buckeyes scored seven goals on Minnesota. Could it happen once again this time in the playoffs?  There is no shortage of offense on Ohio State because aside from goals, they also have three players who rank in the top ten in assists. That list includes Dunne and Buglioni but also WCHA Defender of the Year finalist Emma Peschel, with all three collecting more than 20 assists each this season. Goaltender Amanda Thiele had a great series against the Tommies last weekend and only allowed one goal in each game. If she can keep that up, and continue to be a solid presence in net, Ohio State will be tough to beat.

This game feels like the one that is the most evenly matched. Both teams have talented goal scoring forwards and have almost the same goals scored per game average. The Gophers have their own talented forward in Abbey Murphy who played very well against Minnesota State in the quarterfinals by scoring four goals and recording an assist in three games. They also get goals from different players such as Peyton Hemp, Ella Huber, and Ava Lindsay, who all found the back of the net last weekend in a crucial series against Minnesota State. Their defense is good too. They ranked third overall in the conference in blocked shots with an average of 11.18 blocks per game. Their highest blocks come from players who can also find ways to score like Sydney Morrow and Krista Parkkonen, who scored her first goal as a Gopher last weekend when the team needed it most. They’re joined by other reliable defenders including rookie Chloe Primerano, Nelli Laitinen and Maggie Nicholson who aren’t afraid to put themselves on the line either.

Minnesota’s other form of strong defense is in their goaltender, Hannah Clark. The freshman broke the program record when she ended the regular season with 21 wins and though she had a rough game two on Saturday, she bounced back with a nice outing in Sunday’s game three against the Mavericks allowing only two goals that night. She carries at 2.25 goals against average and has a  .907 save percentage too. Clark faced Ohio State three times this season and allowed only one goal in the first two games she played which resulted in a tie and a win. But the team struggled in the last game on Feb. 1 where the Buckeyes were able to score seven goals in total to split the series. If Clark and the rest of the Gophers can avoid a repeat of that game, they have a strong chance to repeat the success they’ve had this season against Ohio State.

There are some stats where both teams aren’t separated by much. They have close penalty killing percentages with Ohio State having a .835 and Minnesota right behind them with a .824. They also have similar goals scored per game averages. The Buckeyes’ average sits at 3.89 while Minnesota’s is a 3.66. There isn’t that big of a difference in those numbers, which is why I think this game is the most evenly matched of the two on Friday.

I’ve tried to give as much info as possible to praise the good parts of each team in this preview but now it’s time for me to make a prediction. I think both Wisconsin and Ohio State will once again meet in the championship game on Saturday. I see the Badgers scoring early and not letting up in their game against Duluth and I see the Buckeyes trailing 1-0 at some point but then coming back to win against Minnesota.

Programming notes:

The Final Faceoff games can be streamed on B1G+ with a paid subscription and according to the WCHA site, the following local channels will televise the games as well: FOX9+, My9 Sports, Green Bay WBAY 2.3, Madison WMTV 15.2 (CW) & 15.4 (MeTV), Mankato KEYC 7.3, Wausau WSAW 7.2 & CW Columbus.

The championship game will take place on Saturday at 2 PM.

Thanks for reading!