No. 1 Wisconsin clinches 11th WCHA regular season title

Badgers defeat St. Cloud State 4-2 to secure conference championship

Published on Feb. 22, 2026

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The No. 1 Wisconsin women's hockey team clinched its 11th WCHA regular season championship with a 4-2 victory over St. Cloud State. Freshman Mackenzie Jones scored her first career goal, while captain Lacey Eden and Cassie Hall also found the back of the net for the Badgers. Wisconsin outshot St. Cloud State 44-27, with freshman goaltender Rhyah Stewart making 25 saves.

Why it matters

Wisconsin's 11th regular season title ties Minnesota for the most in WCHA history. The Badgers have now won back-to-back regular season championships for the first time since 2019-20 and 2020-21, cementing their status as one of the premier programs in women's college hockey.

The details

The Badgers jumped out to a 3-0 lead through two periods, with Jones, Eden, and Hall all scoring goals. St. Cloud State was able to cut the deficit to 3-1 late in the second, but Hall added another tally for Wisconsin early in the third. The Huskies scored one more goal, but were unable to complete the comeback as the Badgers held on for the 4-2 win.

  • The second period opened with freshman Mackenzie Jones scoring her first career goal.
  • Captain Lacey Eden made it 3-0 with 10:33 remaining in the second period.
  • Cassie Hall added another for UW to begin the third, her 23rd of the season.
  • The Huskies snuck one more goal halfway through the third, but were unable to cut the deficit further.
  • The Badgers concluded their regular season with a 4-2 victory on February 22, 2026.

The players

Mackenzie Jones

A freshman player for the Wisconsin Badgers women's hockey team.

Lacey Eden

The captain of the Wisconsin Badgers women's hockey team.

Cassie Hall

A player for the Wisconsin Badgers women's hockey team who scored her 23rd goal of the season.

Rhyah Stewart

The freshman goaltender for the Wisconsin Badgers women's hockey team who made 25 saves in the game.

Mark Johnson

The head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers women's hockey team.

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What they’re saying

“They became a team within a team. I give them a lot of credit. The leader of that group has been Lacey Eden , not only on the ice, but off the ice. I'm extremely excited for her, I complimented her after the game because she's the one that led us. If you watched all eight games we played, she was our best player, whether it was on the score sheet, winning a face-off, blocking a shot - she just put the team on her back and led us to this finish line.”

— Mark Johnson, Head Coach (uwbadgers.com)

“Everyone was willing to come every day, like Coach says, with their work boots on. We really lived up to that. When we started with just this group, he kept reinforcing that we have all the tools that we need here, and we really bought into that and we're able to work towards our strengths and come together and finish out the season strong”

— Lacey Eden, Senior (uwbadgers.com)

“It's exactly what our coach said - this is the longest, hardest one to win. It's what we've been working for. During the season, you're not really thinking of that, we've got games every single weekend and building off that is huge for us. Very hard to win, especially doing it with not our full team, it's a lot harder than previous years. You have to move forward though, playoffs are starting now, so it's a clean slate. Right now we only have two games guaranteed, so we have to build off that.”

— Laney Potter (uwbadgers.com)

What’s next

The Badgers will host the first round of WCHA playoffs against Bemidji State in a best of three series beginning on Friday Feb. 27.

The takeaway

Wisconsin's 11th WCHA regular season title cements their status as one of the premier women's hockey programs in the country, as they continue to build on their legacy of excellence and set their sights on postseason success.