Wisconsin Badgers
St. Cloud State
Five things to know: Badgers close out regular season at home
February 19, 2026 | Women's Hockey
UW faces St. Cloud State at LaBahn Arena
MADISON, Wis. - The No.1 Wisconsin women’s hockey team closes out its regular season with a series against St. Cloud State University on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 21 and 22. Saturday’s game will be at 1 p.m and Sunday's at 11 a.m. (CT)
Fans can watch the action on Big Ten Plus or listen to Paul Braun on The Game 1070 AM.
Here are five things to know about the series:
1. SWEEPING IT REAL
UW faced Minnesota State on Feb. 13 and 14. The Badgers swept the Mavericks, winning 4-1 and 5-1.
Marianne Picard went back into action in Friday's game and scored the Badger's first goal. Finley McCarthy made it 2-0 before Lacey Eden and Cassie Hall closed out the game for UW. Cassie Hall achieved her 100th career point after scoring in the third period.
The streak continued on Saturday, and the Badgers swept the Mavericks. The Eden, Hall, and Gorbatenko line accounted for UW’s first two goals. Senior Claire Enright tallied a third on the Badger powerplay. McCarthy and Picard tallied the last two goals, and freshman Charlotte Pieckenhagen had assists on both of them.
Freshman goaltender Rhyah Stewart recorded 42 saves across both games.
2. BADGER BRAINIACS
14 Badgers were named to the WCHA All-Academic team, the WCHA announced on Tuesday.
Chloe Baker, Grace Bickett, Lacey Eden, Laila Edwards, Claire Enright, Kelly Gorbatenko, Hannah Halverson, Caroline Harvey, Vivian Jungels, Finely McCarthy, Ava McNaughton, Marianne Picard, Laney Potter and McKayla Zilisch all achieved the honor.
To be considered for the honor, student-athletes must have completed one year of eligibility at their present institutions prior to the academic year and have a GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in their previous two semesters or three quarters.
3. AGAINST THE HUSKIES
The two teams last met on November 14 and 15 of 2025 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. UW beat St. Cloud 5-1 in the first game of the series before winning in a shootout during game two.
In the first game, Emma Venusio put UW on the board just two minutes into the first period. Harvey found two goals before Enright and Kirsten Simms wrapped things up to collect the win.
During the second game, the Badgers and the Huskies scored back and forth throughout all three periods. Pieckenhagen, Maggie Scannell, Simms and Gorbatenko scored for UW, but the game went into overtime when a Husky tied things up. After a scoreless overtime, Potter tallied the extra point for UW.
The Badgers are 98-11-5 overall vs. St. Cloud State University.
4. OLYMPIC DEBRIEF
The Olympic Badgers have stayed hot, as Caroline Harvey leads all countries in points. The Badger defender has nine points in six games for Team USA. Canadian Badger Daryl Watts trails behind Harvey with eight points.
UW’s Laila Edwards has collected seven points from two goals and five assists.
Team Czechia’s Adéla Šapovalivová has had one assist and USA’s Kirsten Simms tallied her first goal last week.
USA captain and former Badger captain Hilary Knight has collected five points across six games.
The United States will face Canada for the Gold medal game on Thursday at 12:10 p.m. (CT)
5. INTO PLAYOFFS
After the Badgers' final regular season series against St. Cloud State this weekend, the squad will head into the WCHA playoffs.
The University of Wisconsin has been announced as one of the hosts for the first round of WCHA playoffs on Feb 27-March 1.
UW is currently first in the standings heading into the weekend.
If Wisconsin is to advance, the 2026 WCHA Final Faceoff will be hosted on March 5 and 7, at the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena at St. Thomas University.
