The Western Collegiate Hockey Association unveiled the recipients of the league’s major individual award winners for the 2025-26 season ahead of crowning the postseason champion this weekend at the 2026 Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff.
2025-26 WCHA Individual Award Winners
Coach of the Year: Mark Johnson, Wisconsin
Player of the Year: Caroline Harvey, Wisconsin
Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year: Mary Kate O’Brien, Minnesota Duluth
Rookie of the Year: Hilda Svensson, Ohio State
Goaltender of the Year: Ève Gascon, Minnesota Duluth
Forward of the Year: Abbey Murphy, Minnesota
Defender of the Year: Caroline Harvey, Wisconsin
Northern
2025-26 WCHA Player of the Year & Defender of the Year
Caroline Harvey, D, Sr., Wisconsin (Salem, N.H)
Abbey Murphy, Gr., Minnesota (Evergreen Park, Ill.)Highlights: Minnesota’s Abbey Murphy claimed her first-ever WCHA Forward of the Year honor. Murphy, who was crowned a gold medalist with Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics, recorded 25 goals and 15 assists in 22 conference games this season with the Gophers. The Evergreen Park, Illinois, native also became Minnesota’s all-time leading goal scorer two games ago, surpassing Nadine Muzerall, as she now sits at 141 in her career. Murphy claimed two WCHA Forward of the Month honors and two HCA National Forward of the Month awards this season. She also claimed the most WCHA Forward of the Week honors of any forward with five. The Gopher forward currently ranks second in the NCAA among all skaters with 64 points (38g, 26a) this season.2025-26 WCHA Goaltender of the Year
Ève Gascon, Jr., Minnesota Duluth (Mascouche, Quebec)
Hilda Svensson, F, Ohio State (Oskarshamn, Sweden)
Mary Kate O’Brien, F, R-Sr., Minnesota Duluth (Wilbraham, Mass.)Highlights: For the third consecutive year, a Minnesota Duluth Bulldog was awarded the WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year award as redshirt senior Mary Kate O’Brien won the honor. O’Brien is a graduate student pursuing her Master of Business Administration, continuing her stellar academic record of success after completing a double major in Business Analytics and Marketing. For the fourth-straight season, O’Brien was named a member of the WCHA All-Academic team and earned the WCHA Scholar-Athlete award. This season for the Bulldogs, the captain has recorded 14 points (3g, 14a) in 37 games played. Off the ice, O’Brien volunteers for several organizations, including serving as a member of the WCHA Student Athlete Advisory Committee, being a Coordinator and Team Admin for Community Service for the UMD Women’s Hockey program, serving as a board member for the UMD Green Bandana Project, volunteering for 7 Stars Ranch, and many more.2025-26 WCHA Coach of the Year
Mark Johnson, Wisconsin
Highlights: Johnson, the winningest coach in Division 1 women’s hockey history, coached the Badgers to their 11th regular-season title in program history as Wisconsin posted a 23-3-2 record in league play and currently holds a 31-3-2 record heading into the weekend. The Badgers have now held the top spot in the USCHO.COM poll for the past 22-straight weeks as Johnson has claimed his 10th WCHA Coach of the Year honor in league history.
WCHA fans can purchase their tickets to the 2026 Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff online HERE. The league’s premiere event will be held on March 5th & 7th at the brand new state-of-the-art Lee & Penny Anderson Arena, hosted by the University of St. Thomas.
The tournament will open on Thursday, March 5, with semifinal games between #1 Wisconsin and #4 Minnesota State at 4:02 PM CT, followed by #2 Ohio State vs. #3 Minnesota at 7:32 PM CT. The tournament championship game will then be played on Saturday, March 7th, at 2:02 PM CT
For more information on the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, follow the league on X and Instagram @WCHA_WHockey, and online at wcha.com.
