Connect with us

More Sports

Wisconsin Hockey: 4 Badgers Finalists for Conference Honors

Published

7 months ago

on

Wisconsin Women's Hockey defender Carolina Harvey, seen celebrating the game-winning-goal in the 2023 Frozen Four semifinals
Wisconsin's Caroline Harvey (4) celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal in a 3-2 overtime victory over Minnesota in a women's hockey national semifinal at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn. on Friday March 17, 2023.

Once again, Wisconsin women’s hockey is a national title contender. After winning the championship last season, the Badgers (31-5-0, 23-5-0) are ranked No. 2 in the country. Of course, this highly successful season comes from many highly successful players. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association named four members of this Wisconsin Badgers team finalists for its conference player of the year awards. Three might take home some individual hardware before postseason play resumes.

Two Wisconsin Women’s Hockey Players Finalists for Forward of the Year

Two of the three WCHA Forward of the Year finalists call Madison, Wisconsin, home. Casey O’Brien, UW’s top center, made the list after finishing the season second in the country in scoring. The senior’s 43 assists lead the country. In conference play, the Massachusetts native totaled 15 goals and 31 assists.

Several of those assists went to O’Brien’s linemate and fellow finalist Kirsten Simms. The winger has taken the country by storm this season. Her 29 goals rank third nationally. She trails only O’Brien with 38 assists. Plus, the sophomore’s 67 points lead all Division 1 skaters. Thanks to the efforts of Simms and O’Brien, the Badgers boast the number two scoring offense in the country with 5.22 goals per game, trailing only No. 1 Ohio State.

Buckeyes forward Hannah Bilka is the third finalist for the conference’s Forward of the Year. After transferring from Boston College, where Bilka led the Eagles in scoring, she now leads the Buckeyes offense. Her 42 points in conference play trail only O’Brien and Simms.

Badgers Hockey Defender Named Defender of the Year Finalist for Second-Consecutive Season

Caroline Harvey is no stranger to individual accolades.  The Wisconsin defender is a WCHA Defender of the Year Finalist for the second-consecutive season. At times this season, injury seemed to be the only thing that held the former Olympian at bay. Despite playing only 21 of 28 conference games, she led all defenders with 18 assists in conference play. The sophomore’s 22 points in WCHA play closely trailed fellow finalist Cayla Barnes’s 24 points – the most among defenders in conference play. Harvey, who captured the 2023 WCHA Rookie of the Year Award, is a finalist alongside Barnes of Ohio State and Nelli Laitinen of Minnesota.

Badgers Defender Named Finalist for WCHA Rookie of the Year

Looking to follow in Harvey’s footsteps, Wisconsin’s Ava Murphy is a finalist for the conference Rookie of the Year. An Ontario native, Murphy is among several rookies and sophomores in the Badgers defender corps. She was no stranger to LaBahn Arena before playing for UW. In 2022, she won the Under-18 Women’s World Championship hosted in Madison and led Team Canada in scoring. She notched two goals and nine assists in her first season with the Badgers. In November, Murphy recorded a game-high four blocked shots in a 3-0 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The winners will be announced this Wednesday, March 6th. Wisconsin women’s hockey is back in action this Friday in Minneapolis. The Badgers drop the puck against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at 4:30 PM CT in the WCHA Final Faceoff Semifinals. The winner will advance to play the winner of Ohio State-Minnesota Duluth in the championship Saturday. The NCAA Division 1 women’s hockey NCAA Tournament Selection Show is Sunday, March 10th, at 11:00 AM. The Selection Show will be televised on ESPNews.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to read our work at BadgerNotes.com. For more Wisconsin Badgers Athletics and Big Ten content, follow us on Twitter & Facebook. You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel. You can also follow Kedrick Stumbris on Twitter @KedrickStumbris

Also, be sure to check out our shop, subscribe to our newsletter, and the BadgerNotes After Dark podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all other streaming platforms. Because of your support, we are one of the fastest-growing independent media outlets, giving a voice to fans!

Related Topics:

BadgerNotes' resident college basketball sicko, Kedrick Stumbris covers Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball and women's hockey teams unlike anyone else. He received his B.A. with economics and political science majors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2018 and has had his work published on Bleacher Report and Verbal Commits.

Trending