MINNEAPOLIS – Junior Laila Edwards recorded a hat trick to lead the Wisconsin women's hockey to a 6-2 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the 2025 NCAA Women's Frozen Four semifinal game on Friday, sending the Badgers to their 12th championship game appearance on Sunday.

It marked Edwards' second hat trick of the year while Caroline Harvey, Kirsten Simms and Casey O'Brien also scored for the Badgers (37-1-2). 

Wisconsin got an early chance as Minnesota (29-12-1) received a five-minute major, but despite coming mere inches from breaking open the scoring, the Badger power-play unit couldn't capitalize. 

Minnesota scored first 15 minutes into the first period, but UW responded minutes later while on the penalty kill. Down a skater, Harvey intercepted a puck and sent it forward to Casey O'Brien who went streaking up the ice with Edwards. O'Brien sent the puck to Edwards who had enough space to send a long snipe bar-down into the Minnesota net. The first frame ended level at 1-1.

The Badgers kept pushing in the second period. Three minutes in, O'Brien found Harvey with time and space in the slot and Harvey sniped the puck past Minnesota netminder Hannah Clark to give the Badgers a 2-1 lead. Simms extended the lead to two halfway through the period. The Badgers found themselves on a 3-on-1 break and Eden sent a pass over to Simms who took her time to find the angle to wrist one past Clark.

Minnesota reduced its deficit to 3-2 forty seconds later.

Later in the second, Wisconsin's Harvey was called for a minor penalty. Eleven seconds later, Minnesota's Chloe Primerano was called for interference sending the game to 4-on-4 hockey. O'Brien capitalized with just 2.0 seconds remaining in the period. With the goal, O'Brien recorded her 88th point of the season, the most of any Badger in school history. The Badgers took their 4-2 lead into the third period.

Edwards gave Wisconsin a three-goal cushion five minutes into the third with her second goal of the game and 33rd of the season.

Ava McNaughton stopped 21 of 23 shots for her 35th win of the season, which is tied for the most in a single season by a Badger netminder. Kristen Campbell also had 35 wins during the 2018-19 season. 

Notes of the Game
- Laila Edwards collected her 150th career point for the Cardinal and White on her first-period goal, which ranks 18th in school history. 
- Casey O'Brien recorded her 88th point of the season, passing Meghan Duggan's 87 points in 2010-11 for the most single-season points in school history.
- UW's 37 wins are tied for the most in school history with the 2010-11 team. 
- Wisconsin owns 10-straight wins against the Golden Gophers, including all six matchups this season. It is the first time UW has gone 6-0 against UM in a single season. UW also now leads the all-time series 58-57-16, marking the first time UW has led the all-time series. 
- UW has 217 goals on the season which is the most in school history. 

Straight from the Rink
Head coach Mark Johnson
On what turned the momentum after a 1-0 deficit:
"I think Laila [Edwards'] goal, shorthanded, really turned around the early part of the game and I think by the third period we played exceptionally well especially managing the puck and taking care of it and doing what we needed to do to get to the end of the game."

On the toughness of the team:
"They've earned everything that has been thrown their way. They've been consistent. They've played well all year and we've always had this bull's eye, especially this year, right in front of us and everybody comes after us, and it's challenging. It's difficult, so I give them a lot of credit."

On the depth and consistency of the roster:
"We've had different players at different times step up and make a play [...] I'm really proud of the way they've been able to be consistent all year long and they deserve to be in this championship game, and I'm excited to see where it goes."

Senior forward Casey O'Brien
On the milestone:
"I was just focused on contributing as much as I could to the team's success, and, yeah, it's cool, but that's not what the focus on. It's on the team and the next game, it's really all it is."

On the late goal in the second period:
"I got a nice pass from Laney [Potter] coming up and I knew the clock was winding down and so I was just trying to get a shot on net. I used the defense as a screen, so I was lucky that went in, but I think to go up into the third period with that kind of lead gave everybody a lot of confidence and then we closed it out.

Junior forward Laila Edwards
On the shorthanded equalizer:
"We stayed level headed. (Caroline) Harvey makes a great stop, gets it up to me and I gave it to Casey. She's obviously a threat, so she pushed the defense back, gave it to me, and I just took a shot on net. We don't go down early too often so when we did, it's a little unsettling, but we took care of business."

On what this team means to her:
"I'm playing, living my dream right now. I'm playing the sport I love with the people I love, so it's great. If you look at all three of my goals, they started with someone else's hard work and just smart hockey, so it's a lot of fun and we're really excited for the next game."

Up Next: Wisconsin will take on Ohio State on Sunday in the NCAA title game at Ridder Arena. Puck drop is set for 3 p.m. and the game will air live on ESPNU.