NCAA DI Tournament 2025: National Championship Wrap Up

Wisconsin wins it all!!!

After a 4-3 final, Wisconsin takes home the National Championship.

Let's get into the wrap up with every goal and all the details you could want!

Nine minutes into the game, Lacey Eden, who has six points against the Buckeyes this season, had a few chances in close, but Amanda Thiele stopped her. Eden was cross-checked by a Buckeye and that gave the Badgers the power play. Now Wisconsin leads the nation in the power play but it wasn’t the Badgers that scored the first goal here… it was Ohio State. Joy Dunne managed to get the puck, skate it back and beat Ava McNaughton for the 1-0 lead.

Now remember that Wisconsin is very good on the power play, and the power play went on even after the Buckeyes scored, which was useful because Laila Edwards was able to score and tie the game. A big-name player scoring in a big moment. That was Edwards’ 35^th goal of the season.

Thankfully with these two goals, we will not have a 1-0 final score for the third straight year. Nice!

With five and a half minutes left in the first, Edwards had a chance in close but wasn’t able to score. Ohio State then got possession and skated back, and in transition, Sloane Matthews beat McNaughton and scored. Matthews waited right when the defender went down to shoot and found the back of the net. 2-1 lead for Ohio State.

The score stayed 2-1 for Ohio State heading into the first intermission.

In the second period, there was no time to regroup as a fan, because Emma Peschel scored 10 seconds into the period. What a wicked shot from the second team All-American, who helped extend the lead to two goals.

Five minutes after that, Kirsten Simms got around a few Buckeyes players and then was able to find Caroline "KK" Harvey, who buried the one-timer on her knee for Wisconsin's second goal of the game. Ohio State had the previous six shots in the period before this great setup led to the goal. 3-2, Buckeyes lead.

The Buckeyes still had some scoring chances. They went on the power play with six minutes left, but Wisconsin, who leads the nation in penalty kill percentage, killed it off. Then with three minutes left, after the Badgers blocked a shot, Jocelyn Amos got the puck back and shot towards the net, but McNaughton made the save. The score remained the same heading into the second intermission.

Entering the third period, this was only the fourth time all season that the Badgers were trailing by two or more goals in a game. But there was still time for the tide to change.

Eight minutes into the third, Matthews was looking for her second goal of the game. She skated around a defender while driving to the net, but McNaughton stopped her. Jenna Buglioni got the puck back herself, but her shot went high and wide. Two big chances that turn up nothing meant that it was still a 3-2 Buckeyes lead.

The Badgers pulled the goalie with a minute left in the game and added the extra attacker. They got a chance in close with all the players jamming away in the crease, but it didn't go. Seconds later, Edwards had a chance, but she was stopped by Thiele, who then lost her stick. Wisconsin had another chance with 20 seconds left, and Thiele made the saves with her pads and had help from the post too. She came up big when the team needed her most!

But then the Badgers challenged whether Ohio State's Maddi Wheeler covered the puck with her hand in the crease while helping out Thiele, which would not be good for the Buckeyes.

The coach's challenge was successful and Wisconsin decided to take a penalty shot. Simms chose to take it herself and skated out to center ice.

Simms skated in, fooled Thiele, and tied the game at three on the penalty shot with 18.9 seconds remaining in regulation.

Heading into overtime now!

Less than three minutes in, Simms did it again! She won the championship for the Badgers in 2023, and two years later, she did it once again. Eden had a shot that was stopped by a Thiele pad save. Simms collected the rebound that went past Dunne and scored the game winning goal.

Wisconsin wins their 8th title in program history, the most in the NCAA. What a heartbreaking loss for the Buckeyes.

After the game, the All-Tournament team was announced:

And of course, Simms was named Most Outstanding Player.

Well, that does it for the 2024-25 women's college hockey season. Thank you for following along this season with us here at The Ice Garden. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

See you in the fall!