STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The NCAA Women’s Frozen Four officially kicks off on Friday night, with Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State and Northeastern playing for the 2026 national championship.

This year’s field features powerhouse programs Ohio State and Wisconsin, which have combined for 10 NCAA championships, including the last six dating back to 2019. Both Penn State, the tournament hosts, and Northeastern are looking for their program’s first title.

Seven of the nation’s top 10 point-per-game scorers are involved. So are 14 players from the women’s Olympic hockey tournament in Milan, including six gold medalists — and the Olympic MVP Caroline Harvey — from Team USA.

Here’s everything you need to know before puck drop.

The schedule

The top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes face No. 5 Northeastern at 4 p.m. ET on Friday. Then the reigning champion Wisconsin Badgers will play Penn State at 7:30 p.m.

The winner of each semifinal will face off in the championship game on Sunday afternoon (4 p.m. ET) at Pegula Ice Arena.

Friday, March 20

4 p.m. ET: Ohio State vs. Northeastern

7:30 p.m. ET: Wisconsin vs. Penn State

Sunday, March 22

4 p.m. ET: National championship game

The field at a glance

1. Ohio State Buckeyes (35-4-0)

The Buckeyes have been to four straight national championship games, winning twice under head coach Nadine Muzerall, who just signed a new five-year contract to remain at Ohio State. With a win against Northeastern on Friday night, Ohio State will have won a program-record 36 games this season.

Ohio State is an elite faceoff team (winning 60 percent) and has the second-best offense, scoring 4.5 goals per game this season. The Buckeyes’ attack is led by Swedish Olympian (and 2026 NCAA rookie of the year) Hilda Svensson, who has 50 points in 31 games. Joy Dunne, Jocelyne Amos and Sloane Matthews have also scored over 40 points this season, giving Ohio State plenty of elite talent at the top of the lineup.

Starting goalie Hailey MacLeod has the third-best goals-against average in the nation (1.48) and held Wisconsin’s high-octane offense to just one goal in the WCHA final, which Ohio State won 2-1.

2. Wisconsin Badgers (33-4-2)

Wisconsin is looking to win back-to-back NCAA championships after a wild 4-3 overtime victory against Ohio State in 2025 brought the program its eighth national title.

The Badgers enter the Frozen Four with the best offense in the country, led by three of the top five scorers in the nation — Lacey Eden (75 points), Harvey (62) and Kirsten Simms (56). No team has scored more goals this season than Wisconsin’s 206, which is 32 more than second place (Ohio State with 174). Only Penn State has a better defense than Wisconsin, which allows just 1.41 goals against per game compared to its 5.28 goals scored.

Wisconsin is the No. 2 seed after losing to Ohio State in the WCHA Final, but they’re still the reigning champions and handed Ohio State three of the team’s four losses this season.

3. Penn State Nittany Lions (33-5-0)

Penn State advanced to the Frozen Four for the first time after a 3-0 win against Connecticut in the regional final. Led by national coach of the year Jeff Kampersal, Penn State is in the midst of its winningest season in program history and has intriguing upset potential — more than most teams have been able to say against the Badgers over the last few years.

No team in the nation allows fewer goals against than the Nittany Lions (1.32 per game), who skate well and take away time and space from opponents. If pucks do get through, Katie DeSa is a steady presence in the crease with a 1.27 goals-against average, second only to Wisconsin starter and U.S. Olympian Ava McNaughton. The team has 162 goals on the season, paced by Olympic gold medalist and player of the year finalist Tessa Janecke and Grace Outwater, who both had 24.

Penn State is the first team from the AHA to make the Frozen Four since Mercyhurst in 2014. Playing in the AHA, historically considered a weaker conference compared to the WCHA, makes Penn State relatively untested against top-tier teams such as Wisconsin. In two games against Ohio State back in January, for example, the Nittany Lions lost by a combined score of 9-2.

4. Northeastern Huskies (29-8-1)

Last week, Northeastern walked into Minnesota’s home rink and knocked the fourth-best team in the nation out of the NCAA tournament with a 4-2 win, backstopped by sophomore goalie Lisa Jönsson’s 45-save performance. Longtime head coach Dave Flint called the win “one of the biggest” in his 18 years with the program.

The Huskies were the best team in the Hockey East this season, only losing two games in conference, including a double-overtime loss to Connecticut in the Hockey East championship game. Still, Northeastern snuck into the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid and punched their ticket back to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2023 with the win against Minnesota.

Northeastern ranks fourth among the final teams standing in most major categories — including 3.03 goals per game and 1.74 against — and will be punching above their weight class against No. 1 Ohio State. Still, the team has a great penalty kill (third in the nation) and star power at the top of the lineup with Hockey East Player of the Year Stryker Zablocki. If nothing else, the team has already proven capable of pulling off a big upset.

Players to watch

Caroline Harvey (Wisconsin)

Harvey was named the WCHA Defender and Player of the Year and was named a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the best player in women’s college hockey.

She’s the best offensive defender in the sport and the highest-scoring in the NCAA with 62 points in 31 games. Harvey’s points-per-game rate (2.00) is second in the NCAA and first among players who made it to the Frozen Four.

The 23-year-old co-led the Olympics in scoring with nine points in seven games — the most ever scored at the Olympics by an American defender — and was named tournament MVP.

Laila Edwards (Wisconsin)

Edwards played defense for Team USA at the Olympics but will start the Frozen Four at forward.

As a full-time forward last season, Edwards led the NCAA with 35 goals in 41 games and was a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award. Edwards has size (6-foot-1) and a big shot that served her well as a defender for Team USA. In the biggest games of the college season, though, head coach Mark Johnson would prefer to use Edwards as a more natural scoring threat at her natural position.

Hilda Svensson (Ohio State)

Svensson was named the 2026 Rookie of the Year on Thursday after leading all freshmen in scoring with 50 points in 31 games this season. The 19-year-old also paced Ohio State’s offense and is among the top scorers in the NCAA.

Svensson is a dynamic playmaker with great hands and vision and tallied the third-most assists in women’s college hockey this season (32). She also scored a team-high seven points for Sweden at the Olympics.

Joy Dunne (Ohio State)

For three years, Dunne has been one of Ohio State’s best players. She was the National Rookie of the Year and scored the game-winning goal in the NCAA Championship against Wisconsin in 2024 and scored a program-record 62 points last season.

This year, Dunne was a key player for the U.S. Olympic team and was named a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award for a second straight season. Dunne has good size (5-foot-11), is a 200-foot player and has a great scoring touch, with 79 career goals in 108 games for the Buckeyes.

Tessa Janecke (Penn State)

Janecke is Penn State’s very best player, a force who Kampersal called “a rising tide that’s lifted all boats” for the Nittany Lions. Janecke became Penn State’s all-time scoring leader — for men’s and women’s hockey — last season and has totaled 199 points through 144 games.

This season, despite joining Team USA at the Olympics, Janecke has been one of the top scoring forwards in the NCAA. Her 24 goals in 30 games is fourth in the nation in goals per game (0.80).

Stryker Zablocki (Northeastern)

The Huskies have one of the top young forwards in the nation in Zablocki, who leads the team in scoring with 44 points in 38 games as a freshman.

She was named Hockey East Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, becoming the first freshman to win both since Daryl Watts in 2017-18.

Zablocki’s 19 goals also lead the Huskies, who are 14-0-0 when she records a goal.

How to watch

Both Frozen Four semifinal matchups will be available in the U.S. on ESPN+ and in Canada on TSN+.

Sunday’s championship game will stream in the U.S. on ESPN+/ESPNU and on TSN+ in Canada.

All games will be held at Pegula Ice Arena.

You can watch the Frozen Four live on Fubo (Stream Free Now!).

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