Wisconsin wins women's NCAA Frozen Four

DULUTH – In the seconds after the final buzzer, goalie Cami Kronish found herself on the bottom of a celebratory pile of her Wisconsin teammates and unable to breathe. When she finally emerged, there was blood coming out of her nose — assistant coach Jackie Krum wondered if it was broken — and when Kronish finally got a chance to throw her gloves in the air, she tripped and fell.

The Badgers shut down defending champion Ohio State 1-0 on Sunday, winning their Division I-record seventh women's NCAA Frozen Four title in front of nearly 4,000 fans at Amsoil Arena. Kronish, a fifth-year player who wasn't secure in her role as starting goalie until January, had 31 saves and was named tournament MVP.

"I cannot believe that this is my life right now," she said, already tucked into a grey national champions baseball cap and wearing a big smile. "This is going to take a few days to process."

Last year, she played in just six games, and none the year before that.

"This girl saved us throughout, I don't know how many games this year," freshman forward Kirsten Simms said.

Wisconsin (29-10-2) had been tied in championships with the Gophers since the Badgers' previous title in 2021.

Badgers freshman Claire Enright whipped the puck into the zone, catching Simms who sent a wrist shot up over Buckeyes' goalie Amanda Thiele's right shoulder at 13 minutes, 28 seconds of the first period. It was the only one they needed.

"I think we could've expected more goals both ways, potentially," Simms said.

The teams played four times during the regular season, and the Buckeyes (33-6-2) held a 3-1 advantage — which included a 5-0 shutout in January and two games that went into overtime. The most memorable was Ohio State's 6-5 OT victory in Madison on Feb. 18, the day they clinched the WCHA regular-season title.

"They won the league championship on our ice and brought the trophy out there — so what are you going to learn from that?" said Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson, who has been behind the bench for all seven Badgers championships. "So now it's 1-0 in the national championship. I like the trophy we got."

Wisconsin rebounded from a rough midseason losing streak that was followed with the loss of key defender Natalie Buchbinder, a fifth-year senior. Throughout the Frozen Four, Badgers talked about how no one outside of the program thought they would make it to Amsoil Arena.

The Badgers beat the Gophers 3-2 in overtime during Friday night's semifinal. Ohio State eased past Northeastern 3-0 to advance to the final game of the season for the second consecutive year.

Buckeyes coach Nadine Muzerall credited her team with fighting until the end of the game.

"It's always hard to come in here and have a conversation and pretend that you're not upset and that life is good because it's not," she said. "Because for some it's just a 60-minute hockey game. But for these young women, it's an entire body of work."