Casey O’Brien won the 2025 Patty Kazmaier Award — given to the top women’s college hockey player in the nation — on Saturday after a historic final season at the University of Wisconsin.
Wisconsin forward Laila Edwards and defender Caroline Harvey were the other two finalists for the award this season, only the second time all three finalists were from one school.
The case for O’Brien — who was a top-three finalist for the award last year, but lost to Cornell’s Izzy Daniel — was overwhelming. She was named WCHA Player and Forward of the Year and leads the NCAA with 88 points and 62 assists in 40 games, and she’s the only player with more than two points per game (2.20) this season.
It’s the highest-scoring season in almost a decade, since Alex Carpenter scored 88 points in 2016 for Boston College. It also sets a new Badgers’ single-season points record, passing Meghan Duggan’s 87 points in 2010-11.
O’Brien is now Wisconsin’s all-time leader in points with 274, passing both Hilary Knight and Mike Eaves. She also broke the school record for career assists (177). Her 62 assists on the season are a record-high for a Badger in a single season, and is third all-time in the NCAA, behind only Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Natalie Darwitz and Team Canada star…
