University of St. Thomas Athletics
Wisconsin
Women’s Hockey welcomes No. 1 Wisconsin to St. Paul
1/15/2026 9:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
RV Tommies host No. 1 Badgers in WCHA series Jan. 16-17
ST. PAUL, MINN. - The St. Thomas women's hockey team (10-12-0, 3-11-0) returns to Lee & Penny Anderson Arena for the second consecutive weekend to take on the No.1 Wisconsin Badgers (19-1-2, 13-1-1) Jan. 16-17.
Puck drop is slated for 2 p.m. both Friday, Jan. 16 and Saturday, Jan. 17.
Be sure to follow along for live streams and stats through links found at tommiesports.com/sports/whockey/schedule – and on Twitter and Instagram at @TommieWHockey.
Last Time Out
The Tommies opened the 2026 half of the season in a big way by earning their first WCHA sweep of the season over the Bemidji State Beavers. This sweep marked the first time St. Thomas has swept the Beavers since 2022, it was also the first Tommie Women's Hockey sweep in Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.
The Purple defeated the Beavers 2-1 in game one. Nora Sauer tallied the first goal of the game just 34 seconds in. Rylee Bartz then netted the game winner with just 54 seconds remaining in the contest. Ellah Hause, Cara Sajevic, and Madison Brown chipped in assisst in game one.
The Beavers got on the board first in game two, but the Tommies then scored four unanswered to secure the 4-1 victory and the sweep. Chloe Boreen and Ilsa Lindaman each had a goal and two assists for a three-point day, while Ella Boerger and Rylee Bartz each chipped in a goal of their own.
WCHA Honors
The Tommies have received four weekly league honors so far this season. Rylee Bartz leads the way with two forwards of the week honors.
Rylee Bartz – Forward of the week (Sept. 22 & Nov. 10)
Ellah Hause – Defender of the week (Oct. 20)
Jenessa Gazdik –Defender of the week (Nov. 10)
WCHA Leader Board
As a team, the Purple sits third in the league in power-play percentage with a .266, shot percentage with .10 and face off winning percentage at .572, and blocked shots per game with 11.95.
Individually, Rylee Bartz is second overall in face-off wins/total face-offs with 270 wins out of 459, Ella Boerger is seventh with 257 wins out of 397 and third in face-off winning percentage with a .647.
Ellah Hause and Haley Maxwell are tied for fourth in the league with 35 blocked shots, while JuliAnna and Jenessa Gazdik are tied for ninth with 32.
DI Era Record Holders
Rylee Bartz now holds the single-season goal record with 12 in the season as she surpassed Ella Boerger's previous record with 11.
Boerger has also surpassed the single-season assists record of 13 that she and Bartz previously held. Ella now has 14 assists on the season and is now the sole single-season assists leader.
Rylee Bartz (62), Ella Boerger (60), and Madison Brown (50) make up the top three in career points.
Ella Boerger (38), and Rylee Bartz (32), round out the top two in D1 era assists.
Rylee Bartz leads the Tommie offense with 30 career goals in the D1 era.
Scouting the Badgers
The No. 1 ranked Wisconsin Badgers hold a 19-1-2 record on the year and have held their spot at the top for the entire season thus far. The Badgers also hold the top spot in the WCHA standings with 41 points.
Junior Kelly Gorbatenko leads the Badger offense with 16 goals, while defensemen Caroline Harvey leads the team in assists with 31.
In goal, junior Ava McNaughton has started all but one game for the Badgers and holds 1.24 goals against average and a .943 save percentage.
History with the Badgers
The Tommies have yet to defeat the Badgers as they hold a 19-0 overall record against the Purple. Back on Nov. 20-21, 2025, the Tommies fell 8-0 in game one but bounced back and earned a WCHA point by taking the Badgers to overtime before eventually falling 4-3.
Current Tommies Against the Badgers
Madison Brown: 4 goals, 1 assist
Rylee Bartz: 1 goal, 3 assists
Ella Boerger, Chloe Boreen, Keara Parker, Ilsa Lindaman: 2 assists
Teagan Kulenkamp: 1 goal
Haley Maxwell, Cara Sajevic: 1 assist
Up Next
St. Thomas will hit the road to take on the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes Jan. 23-24.
Follow Along
For any and all information pertaining to the St. Thomas women's hockey team can be found at tommiesports.com and on Twitter and Instagram at @TommieWHockey.
