STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Wisconsin senior defender Caroline Harvey was announced as the 2026 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner on Saturday, March 21.
She is only the third defender to win the Patty Kaz, joining Ohio State’s Sophie Jaques (2023) and Harvard’s Angela Ruggiero (2004).
Last season, the Salem, New Hampshire, native broke Wisconsin’s single-season defensive scoring record with 63 points. She has tied that record this season despite playing in 11 fewer games. The WCHA named Harvey its Player of the Year and Defender of the Year this season, making her the first player in WCHA history to earn the Defender of the Year honor three times in a career.
A three-time First-Team All-American, a top-three Patty Kazmaier Award finalist in 2025 and a top-10 finalist the season before, she is the top-scoring defender in the country. Her 63 points are good for fourth among all skaters nationwide. Her 45 assists trail only teammate Lacey Eden for most nationally.
The heart of the Wisconsin defense, Harvey has led them to an 88.9% penalty kill percentage, good for second in the country. The Badgers are also second in the nation on Team Defense, allowing just 1.45 goals against per game.
“There was some great competition for for the award, but she definitely deserved it for all of her accomplishments. She’s out on the rink in the mornings before practice, working on just the basic, simple stuff. She’s the best skater in the country, probably one of the fastest players in the country, and that because she’ll spend 20-30 minutes just working on those skill things. That’s something that we try to get across to a lot of players, and it’s a very simple task, but it takes a lot of mental energy, and she’s very good at that. She’s a rink rat, but most importantly, she’s just a great teammate. And she brings other people along. She challenges other players and but she’s always been a team player,” said Wisconsin assistant coach Dan Koch, who works with the Badgers defense.
Teammate Kirsten Simms echoed, the sentiment, admitting she’s looked up to Harvey since they were freshmen, even though they’re in the same class. Harvey’s work ethic and the time she spends outside of practice working on to improve has impressed and inspired Simms.
“I want to be on the ice with her all the time, doing extra work, doing extra skills, doing all those things. Those are habits she’s had since she was in high school. That’s how you become great, and that’s how she has become great. She will only continues to get better. She never lets the foot off the gas, and she always wants to learn new things and continue to grow in her game,” said Simms.
Harvey has far outscored every other defender in the nation with her 63 points – the next highest point total from a blueliner was 38. She has six more goals than the second-highest blueliner goal-scorer and 15 more assists than the nearest defender.
In her month away for the Badgers competing with Team USA in the Milano Cortina Olympics, Harvey won a gold medal, tied for the tournament lead with nine points (two goals, seven assists) and was named Tournament MVP.
It has been a whirlwind couple of months for Harvey, who said she and teammate and friend Laila Edwards remind each other to focus on the moment and the goal ahead of them.
“I talk to Laila a lot about being present. We both remind each other to be where our feet are. Obviously it’s been super exciting these last couple months, with all happened. But all that matters is tomorrow’s championship game. We want to bring that natty back to Madison again. That’s where our mindset is at,” said Harvey.
The ceremony took place at Alumni Hall at the HUB-Robeson Center as part of the women’s Frozen Four weekend hosted by Penn State University. Harvey is the 29th winner of the award and the seventh winner from the University of Wisconsin, joining Casey O’Brien (2025) Ann-Renée Desbiens (2017), Brianna Decker (2012), Meghan Duggan (2011), Jessie Vetter (2009) and Sara Bauer (2006).
An award of The USA Hockey Foundation, the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is annually presented to the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey. Selection criteria includes outstanding individual and team skills, sportsmanship, performance in the clutch, personal character, competitiveness and a love of hockey. Consideration is also given to academic achievement and civic involvement.
Harvey was selected from a group of three finalists that included senior forward Tessa Janecke (Penn State) and graduate student forward Abbey Murphy (Minnesota).
The award is named in honor of the late Patty Kazmaier, a four-year varsity letter-winner and All-Ivy League honoree for the Princeton University women’s ice hockey team from 1981-82 through 1985-86. An accomplished athlete who excelled in ice hockey, field hockey and lacrosse, Patty Kazmaier-Sandt died on Feb. 15, 1990 at the age of 28 following a long struggle with a rare blood disease.