For leading his Badgers to a 36-1-2 season and the top seed in this year’s NCAA National Collegiate Frozen Four, Wisconsin’s Mark Johnson has been chosen CCM/AHCA Women’s Division I Coach of the Year.
It is the fifth such honor for Johnson and the first since 2011.
The Badgers are two wins away from their NCAA-best eighth national title, all earned under Johnson’s tutelage. They meet WCHA rival Minnesota in Friday night’s semifinal in Minneapolis, following the Cornell-Ohio State opener.
This year’s deep roster boats all three Patty Kazmaier Award finalists in Laila Edwards, Caroline Harvey and Casey O’Brien. They also have this year’s national goaltender of the year in sophomore Ava McNaughton.
Johnson was voted the 2024-25 WCHA Coach of the Year by the league’s head and assistant coaches after his success in the regular season. Johnson guided the Badgers to their 10th WCHA regular-season title after recording a 25-1-2 record in league play. Wisconsin won its 11th WCHA Final Faceoff title after a 4-3 defeat of Minnesota in the championship game.
Most recently, the Badgers defeated Clarkson 4-1 in the NCAA Regional Final to advance to their 16th Frozen Four in program history, which is tied for the most appearances in NCAA history with Minnesota.
Johnson has a career record of 665-120-55 in seasons at Wisconsin. No stranger to success in Madison, Johnson was a two-time All-American for the Badgers and is the school’s all time goal-scoring leader (125 goals in 125 games). The son of coaching icon Bob Johnson, Mark was a key player on the 1980 U.S. Olympic “Miracle” team and then enjoyed an 11-year NHL career.
Johnson was assisted this season by Dan Koch, Jackie Crum, and Mark Greenhalgh.
The runner-up for this year’s CCM/AHCA Division I Women’s Coach of the Year Award was Cornell’s Doug Derraugh, a three-time recipient of the award.
