Freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer will be transferring to the University of Wisconsin, Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald confirmed on X Friday afternoon.
Cournoyer, the ECAC Goaltender of the Year, Ivy League Rookie of the Year and Mike Richter Award semifinalist, will play the 2026-2027 season in Madison. The Badgers finished 12th in the NCAA percentage index and earned at large bid to the NCAA Tournament before storming their way to the NCAA championship game, where they fell by a 2-1 score to Denver in Las Vegas.
"Going to Wisconsin, I felt like it was the best option for me," Cournoyer told BadgerExtra.com. "You look at the facilities and all the alumni and everyone that went to Wisconsin, it was an easy decision for me."
Multiple college hockey reporters, including Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal and College Hockey Insider founder and publisher Mike McMahon, tabbed Wisconsin as the frontrunner to acquire Cournoyer when he entered the transfer portal on Wednesday morning. Schlossman confirmed those reports on Friday.
Wisconsin got strong goaltending in the NCAA Tournament from a fellow freshman, Daniel Hauser, who — like Cournoyer — played in the Canadian Hockey League before making the jump to college hockey this past season. Hauser posted a .900 save percentage as opposed to Cournoyer’s .915 in 2025-2026, and the two will likely compete for the starter’s role next season.
"I want my goalie partner to play good so I can play better than him," Cournoyer told BadgerExtra.com. "It's nothing personal. It's just my mentality as a person. I want me and [Hauser] to play good and get this team to the next level next year together."
Cornell has two goaltenders set to return next season — rising junior Justin Katz and rising sophomore Erick Roest. Whether head coach Casey Jones ’90 and his staff elect to utilize the transfer portal to bolster the position remains to be seen. The Red also has one goaltending prospect, Nick Cirka, who is committed to play at Cornell in the future. Cirka spent this past season in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, sporting a .873 save percentage, and it has not yet been determined whether he will enroll at Cornell for 2026-2027 or 2027-2028.
The Big 10, the conference that Cournoyer will be transferring into, had four teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament, with two of them reaching the Frozen Four. The conference is lauded for both its blue-chip NHL prospects and its ability to compensate its players for their Name, Image and Likeness. It is the second year in a row Cornell has lost a player to the Big 10 after former defenseman Ben Robertson transferred to Michigan last year.
"I just wanted to jump to the next level," Cournoyer told BadgerExtra.com. "I decided to enter the portal because we thought — my family and my adviser — that I could get a better opportunity. And Wisconsin reached out right after so it worked out pretty well."
Jane McNally is a senior editor on the 143rd editorial board and was the sports editor on the 142nd editorial board. She is a member of the Class of 2026 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. You can follow her on X @JaneMcNally_ and reach her at jmcnally@cornellsun.com.
