3 reasons why the Wisconsin Badgers lost the NCAA Championship

The Wisconsin Badgers suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to the Denver Pioneers in the NCAA Championship game. Despite outshooting the Pioneers 30-15, Denver scored two third-period goals to take home the title.

Much like the first period of the semifinal versus North Dakota, the Badgers never allowed the Pioneers to get comfortable in the offensive zone. Wisconsin finished the opening period with a 10-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Badgers had multiple opportunities in Denver’s zone to add to the lead, but the Pioneers continued denying more Wisconsin scoring opportunities. The Badgers did got on the board first with an incredible wrist shot from Vasily Zelenov with 6:24 left in the first. 

The second period was a defensive clinic put on by both teams. While Denver finished with a shockingly low three shots on goal, the Badgers could not push home a second goal in the period. Unfortunately for the Badgers, Denver simply took control of the third period, which ultimately proved to be the difference.

Here are three reasons Wisconsin lost the National Championship game.

Lack of a kill shot

Wisconsin tried to generate plenty of scoring opportunities against Denver after Zelenov’s goal, but they failed to get that second goal in the game. When you play a team as experienced as the Pioneers, who have won two of the last four NCAA titles before this game, you have to take control early. The Badgers failed to do that, and that is one of the reasons they fell short on Saturday.

Rieger Lorenz 

Coming into this game, Lorenz was one of Denver’s best goal scorers with 16 on the season. In the third period, Lorenz capitalized on a Wisconsin turnover and equalized the game 1-1. It was Lorenz’s first goal since Denver’s 5-0 win over Cornell back on March 27th.

Johnny Hicks

After giving up a first-period goal, Hicks settled down and saved every Badger shot on goal.  Hicks finished the day, stopping 29 of 30 shots to earn Denver’s 11th NCAA title. With the victory, Hicks finished the 2025-26 NCAA hockey season with an undefeated 16-0-1 record and was well deserving of the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.