On Saturday afternoon, Wisconsin and Penn State punched their tickets to the 2026 NCAA Women’s Frozen Four. Both teams decisively shut out their opponents, but making it to the final rounds means something different for each school. This will be Wisconsin’s 17th Frozen Four appearance, continuing a long legacy of success for the defending national champions. On the other hand, the 2026 tournament will be Penn State’s first time in the Frozen Four. Plus, it’s happening at their home rink to boot. Here’s how these two teams got here.
Quinnipiac 0, Wisconsin 6
Quinnipiac had momentum coming into this game. They arrived with the ECAC conference title and an opening round shutout win over Franklin Pierce in their pocket. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, Wisconsin is excellent at shutting their opponents down. Constant pressure and strong defense from the defending national champions meant Quinnipiac didn’t get a shot on goal until over 14 minutes into the game.
At the same time, the Badgers’ offense was cooking. Two and a half minutes into the first period, Lacey Eden set up Kelly Gorbatenko to open up scoring. Quinnipiac goaltender Felicia Frank initially seemed to recover well from the early goal against, but by the end of the first period, it looked like Wisconsin had her figured out. On a power play following an interference penalty on Quinnipiac’s Zoe Uens, Kirsten Simms put the Badgers up 2-0. It was her 99th career goal and the 199th point for her Olympic teammate Caroline Harvey. Both players sit on the verge of history. If Simms scores in the Frozen Four semi-finals, she’ll be only the fifth Wisconsin player to score 100 goals. For Harvey, she could become the first Badger defender with 200 points.
In many ways, the first period set the tone for the rest of the game. Quinnipiac ended with only 17 shots on goal after three periods, unable to develop plays and harness their team’s talent.
Bobcats Can’t Beat Badger Barrage
Kahlen Lamarche, the Bobcats’ leading scorer and a top-ten Patty Kazmeier Award finalist, had only three shots in this game, with the first coming late in the second period and easily diverted by Wisconsin goaltender McNaughton. In net for the Bobcats, Frank, a top-three finalist for Goaltender of the Year, tallied a career-high 45 saves, but she couldn’t keep Quinnipiac in the game against the Badgers’ barrage.
The hero of the game was undeniably Kelly Gorbatenko. The junior forward scored her second hat trick of the season, pushing to the net to lock in victory for Wisconsin. Gorbatenko had a goal in every period, bringing her to 30 for this season and 100 career points. Her line with Lacey Eden and Cassie Hall has been an important driver through the latter parts of the Badgers’ season. Keeping this trio rolling will help Wisconsin continue their success into the Frozen Four. In addition to Gorbatenko’s three goals and Simms’ first period goal, Adéla Šapovalivová had a goal early in the second period, while Eden got a short-handed goal when Frank was out of the net in the third. Ava McNaughton’s shutout was her eighth of the season.
UConn 0, Penn State 3
Much like in the Wisconsin-Quinnipiac game, an early goal set the stage for eventual victory. In this case, that goal came from Penn State’s Matilde Fantin, who deflected a long shot from Nicole Hall past UConn netminder Tia Chan. Fantin has been a breakout player this season, with 10 goals and 23 points in her rookie year with the Nittany Lions, plus an outstanding performance for Team Italy at the Olympics.
After Fantin’s goal just 1:40 into the game, Penn State kept up the pressure. But, UConn caught up later in the first period and get some chances on PSU goalie Katie DeSa. Through the end of the first frame and into the second, the game became a defensive battle. Both DeSa and Chan stood tall, with the latter even blocking all shots from Penn State during nearly a minute and a half of 5-on-3 play. Chan finished the game with 39 saves.
Janecke Adds To Her All-Time Tally
Unfortunately for Chan and the Huskies, mistakes happen, and the Nittany Lions know how to capitalize on them. With less than seven minutes left in the game, Chan came out of her net to play the puck. She misfired, sending it right toward Tessa Janecke, who picked up the puck and avoided a UConn defender to score. It was the 24th goal of the season for Janecke, Penn State’s all-time points leader and the school’s first-ever top-three Patty Kaz finalist.
As time continued to tick down, the Huskies pushed PSU, especially when Mya Vaslet took a late penalty, and UConn was able to pull Chan for a 6-on-4. However, DeSa remained strong. After three periods, she made 36 saves for her 12th shutout of the season. DeSa’s 27 wins tied her own school record for single-season wins. Add in an empty-netter from Abby Stonehouse, and it was exactly what Penn State needed to seal their first Frozen Four appearance in program history. The four-time AHA conference champions made it to the next level and proved they can hang with the best of the other top conferences. Their next challenge is doing the same on the biggest stage in college women’s hockey.
Wisconsin and Penn State will face off in the semifinals of the 2026 Frozen Four on Friday, March 20 at either 4 PM or 7:30 PM EST. The national championship, where the winner of this game will play the winner of Northeastern vs. Ohio State, will be on Sunday, March 22 at 4 PM EST. Both games will be held at Pegula Ice Arena on the Penn State campus in University Park, PA.