In total, 14 Wisconsin Women’s Hockey players will be making an appearance at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, this February. Among them will be five active players, seven alumni and two staff members.
Wisconsin will have four active Badgers representing the United States, senior forward Laila Edwards, senior defender Caroline Harvey, junior goaltender Ava McNaughton and senior forward Kirsten Simms. The fifth and final active olympian is freshman forward Adéla Šapovalivová, representing Czechia.
Badger alums on Team USA include forward Britta Curl and forward Hilary Knight, while fellow alums, forward Sarah Nurse, goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens, forward Blayre Turnbull, forward Emily Clark and forward Daryl Watts will be representing Team Canada.
Two staff members will be joining the American Badgers in Milan as well, current Athletic Trainer Stefanie Arndt and former player and Director of Operations and Equipment Manager Sis Paulsen.
Wisconsin once again dominates the USA Olympic team numbers, with the most affiliated players, with six, and the only collegiate team with more than one active player on the roster, with four. The Badgers return to the top after being edged out by Minnesota in 2022, with their highest since seven players made the 2010 Olympic roster.
Junior Lily Wakefield, a Brand Communication Student Assistant for Wisconsin Athletics, who specifically works with the team, cited the history of the program as a huge motivator.
“I’m so proud to be like a tiny piece in this journey, and I really think they could take it all this year … The group of seniors, sophomores, juniors, grad students, freshmen, like everyone is so talented and truly wants to be here,” Wakefield said.
The other active college players on Team USA this year are junior forward Joy Dunne (Ohio State), senior forward Tessa Janecke (Penn State) and graduate forward Abbey Murphy (Minnesota).
Edwards specifically has a lot to prove. She will become the first Black woman to play for the U.S. Olympic Hockey team, following in the steps of Nurse, another former Badger, who holds this title for the Canadian team.
The Cleveland native has also earned a lot of notoriety for her heartwarming story. Edwards was supported every step of the way by her mother, father, brother and two sisters, but the family could not afford to make the trip to Italy without support. Posting a GoFundMe, the family was able to raise over $60,000, with significant donations from fellow Cleveland athletes Travis and Jason Kelce, garnering a lot of attention for the Edwards family story.
Without Edwards, Harvey, McNaughton and Simms, the team will be scrambling to fill their void. Wisconsin will be missing their stars for up to eight games to close out the regular season.
They started this eight game stretch against Minnesota Jan. 30, where they were handed their second loss of the season. But, they were able to bounce back the next day with a defiant 6-1 victory against the Gophers.
Since losing the four Olympians, fifth year forward Lacey Eden and junior forward Cassie Hall have stepped up. In the team’s first two games without Edwards, Harvey, McNaughton and Simms, Eden recorded a goal and three assists, while Hall netted a hat-trick in the second game.
Freshman goaltender Rhyah Stewart has also been making some big plays for the Badgers in the absence of McNaughton. Since her first conference start on the 30th, she has made 77 saves.
Hall has stepped into a leadership role in her teammates’ absence, and has enjoyed supporting them from afar.
“We’re cheering them on from here while they’re in Milan, and we’re ready for what comes at us with or without them, and we’re excited to have them back at the end of February,” Hall said.
The WCHA tournament will begin Feb. 27, five days after the official end of the Winter Olympics. Edwards, Harvey, McNaughton and Simms will rejoin the team to hopefully make a deep run in the playoffs.
The active Badgers were all in action for the first time Feb. 5 at 9:40 a.m., when the U.S. took on Czechia in a preliminary match, winning 5-1. Team USA will be entering this Olympics as the top seed in Group A, which consists of Team Canada, Finland, Czechia and Switzerland. They will also be defending a silver medal from 2022 in Beijing.
Back home, the Wisconsin Women’s Hockey program looks to finish out the season. Including their matches this weekend with Ohio State. Without some of their stars, players like Eden and Hall will need to step up once again.
I think we’ve prepared well enough this week to go into this match up confident and know we have the ability to come out and be successful so I think we’re just excited and ready for this opportunity,” Hall said.
The next game for Team USA will be against Switzerland Monday night, while the Badgers will be playing at Minnesota State on Friday.
