The Wisconsin men’s hockey team took down second overall-seeded North Dakota, 2-1, on Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in the semifinals of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four.
The Badgers (24-12-2) will face the No. 2 Denver on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.(CST). The Pioneers defeated the top-ranked Michigan Wolverines, 4-3, in double overtime on Thursday night.
Wisconsin outshot North Dakota 37-22 for the night and broke the scoreless tie when forward Simon Tassy scored at 12:54 in the first period. Just 27 seconds later, senior captain Ben Dexheimer, from the Badger blue line, zipped a pass to sophomore forward Ryan Botterill in stride at the center of the North Dakota blue line to put Wisconsin up 2-0.
North Dakota pulled its goalie with 3:34 remaining in the third period, and soon after Ellis Rickwood was able to score with 52 seconds left to close the deficit to 2-1, but the Badgers were able to hold on from there.
Wisconsin advances to its ninth official NCAA championship game with the victory. The Badgers have won six titles, the most recent one coming in 2006.
Badger fans can watch Saturday’s championship game on ESPN.
