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Wisconsin Badgers forward Laila Edwards, left, and defender Caroline Harvey celebrate after Edwards scored against the Minnesota Gophers in the first period in a game Saturday, February 8, 2025, at LaBahn Arena in Madison, Wisconsin. Dave Kallmann /Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

2 Wisconsin women's hockey players on, 1 surprisingly left off, preseason honor

Originally posted on Wisconsin Badgers on SI
By Kedrick Stumbris | Last updated Sep 10, 2025 5:33 PM ET

A star-studded Wisconsin women's hockey team takes the ice later this month in the first matchup of any two teams in WCHA conference play for the 2025-26 season. When it does, a pair of preseason All-WCHA honorees will suit up for the Badgers against the Bemidji State Beavers.

UW returns four of its top five scorers from its national-championship winning 2024-25 squad. Perhaps more impressively, it is bringing four of the top seven scorers in the nation from a season ago back to Madison–including the country's leading goal-scorer.

Oddly enough, however, that prolific scorer was absent from the preseason All-Conference team.

Caroline Harvey, Kirsten Simms, earn preseason All-WCHA nod

A pair of Badgers have become fixtures of the WCHA preseason awards list in recent years, and 2025 is no different. For the third time in as many seasons, coaches in the conference selected Badgers Caroline Harvey and Kirsten Simms to the preseason All-WCHA team.

Harvey returns to Wisconsin for her final year of eligibility, having accomplished more than nearly any other player in the country has during her time in college. She is coming off back-to-back seasons of first-team All-WCHA and All-American selections. She is the two-time reigning WCHA Defender of the Year. Not to mention her 137 career points–a program record for a defender. Last season, as one of UW's captains, Harvey led the country in goals by a defender (18), recorded the fifth-most points of any player in the nation (63), and was a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award–the highest individual honor in women's college hockey.

Simms is among the few in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey whose accomplishments rival those of Harvey's. The winger shared the same first-team All-Conference and All-American accolades with Harvey the past two years, was a top-three finalist for the Patty Kaz in 2024, and tallied more points last season than any other returning player in the sport.

Laila Edwards absent from preseason honors

Last season, no player in the country scored more goals than Wisconsin women's hockey forward Laila Edwards. For her efforts, Edwards was named to the All-WCHA first team, a first-team All-American, and a top-three finalist for the Patty Kaz, alongside Harvey and Badgers co-captain Casey O'Brien.

Edwards is, however, noticeably absent from this fall's preseason All-Conference team. Simms is joined by Minnesota Gophers graduate student Abbey Murphy, and Ohio State Buckeyes junior Joy Dunne as the three forwards on the list.

Edwards was listed among the players receiving votes that did not make the final list. Also among the players receiving votes was Badgers goaltender Ava McNaughton. Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs junior Ève Gascon and McNaughton were the only two netminders to receive votes for the honor. Last season, Gascon won the conference goaltender of the year award while McNaughton took home the national goaltender of the year trophy.

The preseason All-WCHA team is selected by the league's head coaches. The full team consists of:

F: Abbey Murphy, Gr., Minnesota

F: Kirsten Simms, Sr., Wisconsin

F: Joy Dunne, Jr., Ohio State

D: Emma Peschel, Sr., Ohio State

D: Caroline Harvey, Sr., Wisconsin

G: Ève Gascon, Jr., Minnesota Duluth