MADISON – History and a hat trick? It was all in a day’s work for Lacey Eden.
On the way to record her second career hat trick, the senior forward for the Wisconsin women’s hockey team became the fourth player in program history to score 100 goals.
Eden also recorded two assists for her first five-point game.
“It was a really fun game to play,” she said. “I think we played a complete game. We played 60 minutes. They came out pretty hard in the first period and gave us some competition there and we were able to get over that (hump) and just work hard and it showed up on the scoreboard today for us.”
The accomplishment was part of an eventful afternoon for the nation’s No. 1 ranked team.
First and foremost, the Badgers (28-3-2, 22-3-2 WCHA, 69 points) defeated St. Cloud State, 9-2, at LaBahn Arena to move within one victory of the WCHA regular-season title.
And individually Eden wasn’t even the team’s top goal scorer. That distinction went to junior Kelly Gorbatenko, who finished with four goals, two better than her previous single-game high.
A lot of Badgers in the mix. Six players had multi-point performances. Senior Vivian Jungels and junior Laney Potter set single-game career highs with three and four assists, respectively. Freshman Charlotte Piekenhagen scored twice for her first multi-goal game.
Not bad considering when the teams last met Nov. 14 they skated to a 4-4 tie.
UW is 5-2 since its top players left for the Olympics.
“The group that we have right now, they've come together,” Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson said. “Out of the seven games we've played, this was one of their best from start to finish.”
The road to the big 💯 pic.twitter.com/B5v8VjiTc3
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerWHockey) February 21, 2026
Eden joins Hilary Knight, Brianna Decker and Meghan Duggan as Badgers with 100 goals. Her pursuit of the milestone has been steady this season. She has scored a goal in 18 of 33 games and has put one on the board in nine of the last 11.
Goal No. 100 came off assists from sophomore Emma Venusio and Potter and gave the Badgers a 3-1 edge at the 3-minute 43-second mark of the second period.
Goal No. 2, which proved to be the game-winner, came 20 seconds into the third period and the third goal came at the 10:47 mark.
Eden has much respect for the players in the group she joined.
“Those three are girls that I've looked up to since I was a little kid and I've had the honor to play with two of them,” Eden said. “They've just been such big inspirations for me as a Badger and just throughout my hockey career so it's it's really cool to be on that shortlist with them.”
While Eden has been on a hot streak, Gorbatenko hadn’t scored in six games. Saturday she had the most consequential score of the day when she found the back of the net with less than 1 second to play at the end of the first period.
The power play goal was the difference between leading, 2-1, and 1-1 tie after one period. A flood of goals ensued.
Ohio State’s 6-3 win at Bemidji State on Feb. 21 assured the need for the Badgers to get a win in the season finale, which will begin at 11 a.m. Feb. 22 at LaBahn to win the league title. A loss gives the Buckeyes, who completed their regular season, the tie. An overtime loss would leave the teams tied for first.
The game is expected to be the last the Badgers play without its Olympians, who are expected to return to town Monday.
“It's going to feel like playoff hockey where you just have to do the little things right to kind of just get some momentum going,” Gorbatenko said. “We want that trophy. We know what's at stake.
“The B squad will be ready to go. We've done such like a great job, like with our Olympians gone and been able to hold on the fort. We're just one, one game away from a trophy and so we don't want to let it slip through.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Lacey Eden gets 100th goal, Wisconsin moves closer to WCHA title