WCHA Weekly Roundup: Jan. 1-4, 2025

Welcome back to the WCHA season! After the holiday break, the WCHA returned to action with some great non-conference and conference matchups including in the cold outdoors! We take a look at some of the best moments from this weekend, take a look at the weekly awards, and send some love to a legend in the making at U18 Women’s Worlds.

Series of the week: Ohio State vs. Wisconsin

The last time these two powerhouses faced each other, Wisconsin had a come-from-behind win, followed by the Buckeyes handing the Badgers their first loss of the season. And now, it was time for a rematch. Game one took place at La Bahn Arena in front of a sold-out crowd and Wisconsin put on a show for their fans. The top-ranked Badgers managed a 6-0 win over the Buckeyes thanks to Lacey Eden’s two goals and one assist, Cassie Hall’s three points, and Ava McNaughton’s seventh shutout of the season and 19th win overall. This was the largest win over Ohio State by the Buckeyes since 2017. 

Game two of the series was a little different. The two met on Saturday night for The Frozen Confines: Big Ten Hockey Series game outdoors at historic Wrigley Field. The teams skated to a 3-3 tie, with Ohio State taking the extra point in the shootout. The game began with Jordyn Petrie scoring less than a minute into the game for an early Buckeyes lead. Five minutes later, Caroline Harvey scored to tie the game at one, and then Kirsten Simms scored to take a 2-1 Badgers lead into the first intermission. After a quiet 18 minutes of the second period, Makenna Webster scored to even the game at two a piece. Joy Dunne broke the tie with a goal in the third period before Ohio State once again tied the score at three.

Neither team could find the back of the net in overtime and settled for a shootout. After seven rounds, the Buckeyes’ Jenna Buglioni scored the shootout winner, while goalie Amanda Thiele made seven saves in the shootout for the Ohio State win.

Here are more photos from such a historic night.

Around the Conference

The number three-ranked Minnesota Gophers began the second half of the season with a 4-1 win against Bemidji State. The game was part of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Women's Face-off Classic. Natalie Mlynkova began the new year with a bang as she notched her first career hat trick. She also recorded a career-high four points in the game. Mlynkova then followed that performance with two goals in Friday’s 9-1 win over Brown in the East/West showdown. Mlynkova tallied six points across three games in the first weekend of action since the holiday break.

Minnesota State traveled to face Lindenwood, where Whitney Tuttle put together the most impressive game of her collegiate career. She recorded a hat trick in the Mavericks' 8-1 win over the Lions and added one more goal to become the seventh player to score four goals in a game in program history. Tuttle is the first to reach the feat since Kelsey King scored four in 2022. Tuttle’s hat trick is the second in the last three games for the Mavericks. 

Bemidji State played in the East/West Showcase this weekend and stunned Brown with a 5-4 come-from-behind win. The Beavers trailed 4-1 early in the second period before scoring three straight goals to tie the game at 4. Hailey Armstrong was the hero for Bemidji. After tying the game five minutes into the third period, she scored the game winner with 43 seconds left in regulation to complete the largest comeback win in program history.

St. Cloud State and St. Thomas faced off in an outdoor exhibition game on Saturday. Both teams return to play this weekend.

Weekly Awards

The first weekly awards of 2025!

WCHA Forward of the Week: Whitney Tuttle - Minnesota State

She scored four goals in one game. Enough said.

WCHA Defender of the Week: Sydney Morrow - Minnesota

Morrow earned her first honor of the season after scoring four points over the last week. She scored two power-play goals and now has a total of five on the season. 

WCHA Goaltender of the Week: Ava McNaughton - Wisconsin

McNaughton was named Goaltender of the week after she recorded her seventh shutout of the season and 19th win in Wisconsin’s victory over Ohio State. In Saturday’s outdoor spectacular, McNaughton made a season-high 36 saves. All in all, she ended the weekend with a .947 save percentage and a 1.44 goals-against average. 

WCHA Rookie of the Week: Morgan Smith - Bemidji State

Morgan Smith earned back-to-back Rookie of the Week honors for Bemidji State. The freshman scored five points in the East/West Showcase and helped the Beavers come back from a three-goal deficit to beat Brown on Saturday with a goal and an assist in the game. 

Looking Forward

St. Cloud State returns to action on Friday with a series against Minnesota Duluth. St. Thomas will face Minnesota in the Tommies’ first action since early December.

LASTLY, a big congratulations and good luck to all the WCHA commits who are taking part in the U-18 Women’s World Championship and congratulations to Minnesota’s Chloe Primerano for not only being selected as part of Team Canada and being named captain but also for scoring the most points by a defender in U18 Women’s Worlds history.

Weekly Scoreboard

Wednesday

Bemidji State 1, Minnesota 4

Thursday

Syracuse 2, Minnesota Duluth 6
Ohio State 0, Wisconsin 6

Friday

Bemidji State 4, Penn State 6
Syracuse 1, Minnesota Duluth 2
Minnesota State 8, Lindenwood 1
Brown University 1, Minnesota 9

Saturday

Minnesota State 8, Lindenwood 1
Bemidji State 5, Brown University 4
Ohio State 3, Wisconsin 3 (OSU wins in shootout)
Penn State 6, Minnesota 2

*St. Cloud State and St. Thomas played an exhibition game on Saturday.

Full schedule here.