Ohio State rode four goals in the final 10 minutes of the first period to beat fifth-seeded Northeastern and defending champion Wisconsin edged No. 3 Penn State in overtime on Friday, setting up the fourth straight Frozen Four title showdown between the NCAA women’s hockey powers.
The No. 1 overall seed Buckeyes (36-4-0), which set the program’s single-season wins record with 36, advanced to its fifth straight national title game with a 5-0 win in the first of two semifinals Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena, improving to 14-4 in the NCAA tournament and 7-4 in the Frozen Four.
Wisconsin, meanwhile, won on a power-play goal from Kirsten Simms in the opening minute of overtime to earn a spot in the final. She scored two dramatic goals in the national championship game last season — a game-tying penalty shot with 18 seconds remaining in regulation and the overtime winner — for Wisconsin’s eighth title.
Northeastern (29-9-1) was making its fourth Frozen Four appearance in program history and first since 2023 when Ohio State defeated the Huskies 3-0. The Huskies dropped to 5-7-0 in the NCAA Tournament.
Five different players scored for the Buckeyes and 10 players recorded a point.
Joy Dunne, a Patty Kazmaier top-10 finalist, scored on a rebound 10 minutes into the game for her 27th goal of the season. Then Kaia Malachino and Sanni Vanhanen scored a minute apart for a 3-0 lead.
Emma Peschel beat the first-period buzzer with a slap shot to make it 4-0 and Sara Swiderski sent a shot from the blue line that deflected into the goal in the third.
Hailey MacLeod recorded her fifth shutout this season with 15 saves — five coming in the first 10 minutes. She ended a breakaway chance five minutes in and finished the frame with eight saves.
Northeastern goaltender Lisa Jönsson made 37 saves.
In the other semifinal, Tessa Janecke, a Patty Kazmaier top-three finalist, opened the scoring for Penn State and she scored on a breakaway with 4:59 left in regulation for a 3-all tie.
Wisconsin (33-4-2) tied it at 2-2 midway through the second period after Laila Edwards’ second goal of the game.
Penn State (33-6-0), which was in the Frozen Four for the first time in program history, announced a women’s Frozen Four attendance record at 5,176.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
