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Wisconsin Badgers defender Caroline Harvey celebrates sa goal during the 2025 Women's Frozen Four. (Photo by Bailey Hillesheim/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
As she wraps up her decorated college career this weekend, Wisconsin Badgers defender Caroline Harvey has added another accolade to her already-long list of achievements in women’s hockey.
Just one month after she was named tournament MVP while capturing a gold medal with Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics, the 23-year-old was named the 2026 winner of the Patty Kazmaier Award on Saturday. The award, which is presented by USA Hockey, honors the year’s top player in NCAA Div. I women’s ice hockey.
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Caroline Harvey of Team USA poses with her gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics on February 19, 2026. (Photo by RvS.Media/Monika Majer/Getty Images)
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In 2025, Harvey was named a top-three Patty Kazmaier finalist, along with two of her teammates. The award went to senior forward Casey O’Brien, who went on to be selected third overall by the New York Sirens in the 2025 PWHL Draft. The third finalist was junior hybrid forward/defender Laila Edwards, who was named a top-10 finalist once again in 2026.
This year, Harvey’s fellow top-three finalists were also U.S. gold medalists: senior forwards Tessa Janecke of Penn State University and Abbey Murphy of the University of Minnesota.
Murphy’s Golden Gophers finished the season ranked fifth in the nation, and fell to No. 4 Northeastern in last weekend’s regional championship stage of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Janecke’s Nittany Lions, who are hosting the Frozen Four, finished at No. 3 and put a good scare into the Badgers in Friday’s tournament semi-final. In front of a record-setting crowd of 5,176 fans, Janecke gave the home side an early lead just 1:52 into the first period. After 20 minutes Penn State was up 2-1. Then after the defending champions scored twice in the middle frame, Janecke added her second of the game to force overtime with 4:59 remaining in regulation.
The Badgers needed just 50 seconds of sudden death to punch their ticket to their fourth-straight Frozen Four final. After being awarded an early power play, Edwards and Harvey used only eight seconds with the extra-player advantage to set up Kirsten Simms for the winning goal.
Sunday’s rival will be familiar. The Ohio State Buckeyes are back in the final for the fifth-straight year. They finished as the top-ranked program in the nation this year and reached the final with a pair of dominant wins, beating Yale 6-1 and Northeastern 5-0.
Buckeyes forward Joy Dunne, a junior, was her team’s only top 10 finalist for the 2026 Patty Kazmaier Award. She was also named to the top 10 last season.
Familiar Foes
In 2022, in coach Nadine Muzerall’s sixth year at the helm of the Buckeyes program, Ohio State captured its first Frozen Four title at Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, Penn. with a 3-2 win over the University of Minnesota-Duluth. The next three years have been showdowns between the Buckeyes and the Badgers. The two sides have been alternating wins, both by 1-0 scores in 2023 and 2024.
In 2025, top-seeded Wisconsin claimed its eighth championship in tournament history thanks to another overtime winner by Simms. Mark Johnson, who was a member of the 1980 Olympic gold-winning Miracle on Ice team, has been at the helm of the Badgers’ program since 2002, just four years after women’s hockey made its Olympic debut in 1998. He delivered Wisconsin’s first two national titles in 2006 and 2007.
PWHL Future Stars
The NCAA’s Class of '26 is rich with talent that should make an immediate impact in the PWHL next season. That list starts with Harvey and includes several of her Wisconsin teammates. Edwards, Simms and fifth-year forward Lacey Eden were all top 10 Patty Kazmaier finalists. Defender Vivian Jungels should also attract attention.
And while Ohio State Olympian Joy Dunne is a junior who is expected to return to college next season, Buckeyes who are expected to declare fo the 2026 PWHL Draft include defenders Emma Peschel, Sara Swiderski and Brooke Disher, forward Sloane Matthews and goaltender Hailey MacLeod, who has been all-but-unbeatable of late.
Other top prospects for 2026 include the Patty Kazmaier top three finalists Janecke and Murphy along with top 10 finalists Tia Chan of Connecticut (goaltender), and Izzy Wunder of Princeton (forward).
How To Watch The 2026 Frozen Four Final
If the history between these two teams is any indication, we’re in for another thriller in the 2026 Frozen Four final.
Catch the Ohio State Buckeyes and Wisconsin Badgers on Sunday, Mar. 22 at 4 p.m. ET. on ESPNU and the ESPN app in the U.S. and on TSN+ in Canada.
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