The Wisconsin women's ice hockey team had one opportunity to stay alive in the 2025 national championship game.
Down 2-3 with 18.9 seconds on the clock versus Ohio State, Wisconsin had a penalty shot.
"Who wants it?" coach Mark Johnson asked.
Multiple players said Kirsten Simms. She agreed.
In the biggest moment of her career, Simms skated down the ice, dangled Ohio State's goalie to the left and danced the puck to the right. Goal.
But Simms wasn't done. Only 2:49 into overtime, she secured a rebounded shot and snapped it through a defender's legs for the win.
"I don't know if I was playing I would take the shot," Johnson said in the postgame press conference. "I wanted to see who'd step up and own it."
Simms felt no doubt.
"I've never felt so much confidence in myself. It was obviously a make-or-break type of thing. Without my teammates' confidence they instilled within me, and without coach believing in me, that wouldn't have been able to be done."
Wisconsin women's hockey has become one of the sport's most consistent Olympic pipelines. With the 2026 Milan Cortina Games approaching, six Badgers are on Team USA's roster, with more Wisconsin alumni representing Canada and the Czech Republic. The common thread is Mark Johnson, an NCAA champion coach who keeps producing big-moment players.
"Even if you're not playing, he still instills confidence within you and never lets you forget that. I think that's one of the most special things he does as a coach," said Simms, now a senior forward.
Junior goalie Ava McNaughton said Johnson is unlike any other coach she has had, in the best way.
"He's very mellow and very humble. He's willing to hear you out, so it feels like a collaborative effort. I mean, he's not afraid to call you out, but I think there's a duality of feeling comfortable being coached in that way but also knowing it's not a one-sided affair."
In high-pressure moments that could test faith, Johnson stays level-headed.
"You would think anybody would be freaking out in the last 18 seconds, but I've never seen a coach more calm in a situation. … Then it's pretty easy for the team to be relaxed and have that belief in each other," Simms said.
Simms' goals against Ohio State delivered Johnson's eighth national championship as Wisconsin's coach, the most in NCAA history in women's ice hockey. Johnson, who won an additional NCAA title while a student-athlete at Wisconsin, is a 10-year NHL veteran and a gold medalist with the 1980 U.S. Olympic team best remembered for the 'Miracle on Ice.'"
Johnson also builds Olympians.
In the 2026 Winter Olympics, Team USA has six Wisconsin players on the roster: Simms, McNaughton, current seniors Laila Edwards and Caroline "KK" Harvey, and former Badgers Hilary Knight and Britta Curl-Salemme.
Canada also benefits, with five former players on its Olympic roster: Ann-Renée
Desbiens, Emily Clark, Blayre Turnbull, Daryl Watts and Sarah Nurse. Plus, freshman Adéla Šapovalivová will compete for the Czech Republic in the Milan Cortina Games.
If confidence is one ingredient for success, fierce competition is another.
From the moment Badgers step on the team as 18-year-old freshmen, they practice against 22-year-old national champions and Olympians.
This Olympic prowess is an excellent recruiting tool for Johnson.
"(Mark Johnson and Wisconsin) have developed some of the greatest Olympians of all time," Simms said. "When that's your dream as a kid or in high school, that's kind of just an attraction to get to the program and play here."
Current Badger players also get to experience Knight, a legend on the ice, turning from an idol to a mentor.
"I've never met someone quite like her leadership ability and the way she gets through to everyone," Harvey said.
In 2022, Harvey made Team USA's roster as the youngest Olympian on the team. Knight helped Harvey through the transition.
"When I was early on joining the team, she said something to the effect of, 'It's the same game, no matter what level you're at. Just trust your instincts, play natural, play free.' And that just really stuck with me, and I continue to think of that when I'm in hard moments."
After playing on the national team with Edwards and Harvey, Knight said she is trying to pull them out of their shells and make them comfortable with the world stage in a short amount of time.
Hilary Knight fights for the puck at the 2012 National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Championship. (Photo by Carlos Gonzalez / NCAA Photos)
"They've done phenomenally so far. It just speaks to Laila's presence on the international stage. A couple of Worlds ago, it took everyone by storm. We were like, 'Yep, see, that's Laila. Now you guys know her.' And then KK has just been a dominant force for so long," Knight said. "Those are some awesome Badgers."
The five other Badgers on Team USA will compete with Knight in her fifth and final Olympics. Edwards, Harvey, Simms and McNaughton will try to chase their NCAA championship trophy with a gold medal.
McNaughton, one of the youngest players on Team USA, knows her experience at Wisconsin will set her up for success in Italy.
"Hockey is hockey, no matter where you are and what jersey you're putting on. All the habits I've acquired and built during my time at Wisconsin is obviously translating over to the national team," she said. "I'm just trusting in what I've done at Wisconsin and all the success I've had here, and that's the reason why I'm on the national team."
Fast Facts
Badgers in the Milan Cortina Games
- Britta Curl-Salemme (United States).
- Hilary Knight (United States).
- Laila Edwards (United States).
- Caroline Harvey (United States).
- Ava McNaughton (United States).
- Kirsten Simms (United States)
- Emily Clark (Canada).
- Ann-Renée Desbiens (Canada).
- Sarah Nurse (Canada).
- Blayre Turnbull (Canada).
- Daryl Watts (Canada).
- Adéla Šapovalivová (Czech Republic).
National titles
- Britta Curl-Salemme (2019, 2021, 2023).
- Laila Edwards (2023, 2025).
- Caroline Harvey (2023, 2025).
- Kirsten Simms (2023, 2025).
- Hilary Knight (2009, 2011).
- Ava McNaughton (2025).
- Emily Clark (2019).
