Playing in hostile enviroment at Frozen Four is nothing new for Wisconsin
UW faces Penn State in a national semifinal March 20 at Pegula Arena, marking the second straight year it has played the school host in the event.
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – Wisconsin did some of its best work on the road this season. Back in December the Badgers women’s hockey team swept Ohio State in a battle of the nation’s top two teams. At the end of January UW had a must-win situation at Minnesota and scored a 6-1 win that proved critical to the Badgers grabbing the WCHA regular-season title.
Now Wisconsin is back at the Frozen Four and back in another road environment. Though the Badgers will be the higher seed and wear their home white uniforms for their national semifinal against Penn State on March 20, it will be the Nittany Lions who enjoy the perks of playing a game of this magnitude on their home ice. For the next few days Pegula Ice Arena will be the home to the 2026 Frozen Four, but it’s always home for Penn State More: Wisconsin hockey's seniors hope to make history again at Frozen Four “Any time you get to play a team on their home ice, you know the crowd is going to be just a little bit more into it,” Badgers senior Lacey Eden said Thursday, March 19 after practice at Pegula.
“They're going to have a lot of people backing them up, but so do we. “It's just emphasizing our game and playing with that edge, getting the crowd into it, but really just focusing on us and doing what we need to do to come out with the win. ” Wisconsin knows a little something about this dynamic.
Last year it faced Minnesota in a national semifinals in Minneapolis at Ridder Arena and won, 6-2. “Playing the host team back-to-back years, it's definitely tough, but it's something we embrace,” junior Cassie Hall said. “Our fans, they travel so well, so we know we'll have them behind us.