NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

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NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Tournament
SportCollege ice hockey
Number of teams8
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Current stadiumErie Insurance Arena
Current locationErie, Pennsylvania
Played2001–present
Last contest2021
Current championWisconsin Badgers (6)
Most championshipsMinnesota Gophers
Wisconsin Badgers (6)
TV partner(s)ESPNU
Official websitencaa.com/sports/icehockey-women/nc

The annual NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Tournament—officially known as the National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Championship—is a college ice hockey tournament held in the United States by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the top women's team in the NCAA. The 2020 championship was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1][2][3]

Origins[]

The NCAA Championship of Women's Ice Hockey began in 2001, although several universities had had women's teams established since the early 1970s.

In 1965, the first collegiate women's ice hockey team in the United States was created at Brown University. In February 1966, the team, named the "Pembroke Pandas", played its first match. Their opponents were the Walpole Brooms, a non-collegiate team. The women's ice hockey program of Cornell University began in 1971. The Big Red team competed in its first match in 1972, which it won 4–3, against Scarborough. In 1972, they played eight matches and lost half, including two defeats against the Pembroke Pandas. Yale University made its debut in women's hockey on December 9, 1975. The University of Minnesota-Duluth, the University of New Hampshire, and the rest Ivy League have similar histories.[4]

In 1976, Brown University would host the first ever Ivy League women's ice hockey tournament. Competitors in the tournament included Princeton, Yale, and Cornell, which won the tournament. Women's ice hockey continued growth and acceptance continued through the early 1980s.[4] In 1984, the Providence Friars won the inaugural ECAC women's ice hockey championship.

In the 1997–98 season, the American Women's College Hockey Alliance (AWCHA) made its debut. It was financed by the United States Olympic Committee.[5] This allowed for the first national women's ice hockey championship to occur, which was won by New Hampshire. The 1997–98 season also saw the creation of the Patty Kazmaier Award, designed to recognize the most remarkable women's collegiate ice hockey player every season. The AWCHA also conducted championships in 1999 and 2000, which were won by Harvard and Minnesota respectively.

During the 1999–2000 season, WCHA joined the ECAC in an attempt to make women's ice hockey an NCAA sanctioned sport. In August 2000, the NCAA announced that it would set up a national division of women's ice hockey with a national championship at the end of every season, starting with the 2000–01 season. The Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs won the inaugural tournament and, by extension, championship 4–2 against the St. Lawrence Skating Saints.

NCAA Division I Women's Ice Hockey[]

In all, 41 schools in the United States, ranging from the Midwest to the East Coast, sponsor varsity women's hockey at the National Collegiate (Divisions I and II) level. Five National Collegiate conferences are currently recognized by the NCAA—College Hockey America, ECAC Hockey, Hockey East, New England Women's Hockey Alliance, and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

With a 30+ game schedule, competing for conference and national championships, NCAA Division I women's hockey has a demanding and challenging season.

Format[]

Under NCAA rules, Division II schools are allowed to compete as Division I members in sports in which a D-II championship is not contested.[6][7] As there is no Division II championship for women's ice hockey, this rule applies to the tournament. The official name of the "Division I" tournament is the National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Championship, which reflects the NCAA's formal terminology for championship events that are open to schools from multiple divisions.

This tournament is a single elimination competition of eight teams. The semi-finals and finals are called the "Women's Frozen Four." This moniker is similar to the name used by the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship. The term is derived from the term "Final four."

The Patty Kazmaier Award ceremony takes place annually during Women's Frozen Four weekend.

History[]

Although many schools from many conferences have been competitive, the first 13 championships were won by only three different schools all originating from the WCHA: Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. In 2014, the WCHA's hold on the championship was finally broken when Clarkson defeated Minnesota. The ECAC, from which Clarkson originated, has easily been the second most competitive conference, with eleven appearances in ten national title games, including the first five games. Hockey East has had four title game appearances, twice by Boston University and once each by Boston College and Northeastern, and CHA has had one title appearance, by Mercyhurst in 2009. The 2020 championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1][2][3]

Year Champion Score Runner-up City Arena
2001 Minnesota–Duluth 4–2 St. Lawrence Minneapolis, MN Mariucci Arena
2002 Minnesota–Duluth (2) 3–2 Brown Durham, NH Whittemore Center
2003 Minnesota–Duluth (3) 4–3 (2OT) Harvard Duluth, MN DECC Arena
2004 Minnesota 6–2 Harvard Providence, RI Dunkin' Donuts Center
2005 Minnesota (2) 4–3 Harvard Durham, NH Whittemore Center
2006 Wisconsin 3–0 Minnesota Minneapolis, MN Mariucci Arena
2007 Wisconsin (2) 4–1 Minnesota–Duluth Lake Placid, NY Herb Brooks Arena
2008 Minnesota–Duluth (4) 4–0 Wisconsin Duluth, MN DECC Arena
2009 Wisconsin (3) 5–0 Mercyhurst Boston, MA Agganis Arena
2010 Minnesota–Duluth (5) 3–2 (3OT) Cornell Minneapolis, MN Ridder Arena
2011 Wisconsin (4) 4–1 Boston University Erie, PA Erie Insurance Arena
2012 Minnesota (3) 4–2 Wisconsin Duluth, MN AMSOIL Arena
2013 Minnesota (4) 6–3 Boston University Minneapolis, MN Ridder Arena
2014 Clarkson 5–4 Minnesota Hamden, CT People's United Center
2015 Minnesota (5) 4–1 Harvard Minneapolis, MN Ridder Arena[8]
2016 Minnesota (6) 3–1 Boston College Durham, NH Whittemore Center[8]
2017 Clarkson (2) 3–0 Wisconsin St. Charles, MO Family Arena[8]
2018 Clarkson (3) 2–1 (OT) Colgate Minneapolis, MN Ridder Arena[8]
2019 Wisconsin (5) 2–0 Minnesota Hamden, CT People's United Center[9]
2020 Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic Boston, MA Agganis Arena[9]
2021 Wisconsin (6) 2–1 (OT) Northeastern Erie, PA Erie Insurance Arena[9]
2022 TBD TBD TBD State College, PA Pegula Ice Arena[9]
2023 TBD TBD TBD Duluth, MN AMSOIL Arena[10]
2024 TBD TBD TBD Durham, NH Whittemore Center[10]
2025 TBD TBD TBD Minneapolis, MN Ridder Arena[10]
2026 TBD TBD TBD State College, PA Pegula Ice Arena[10]

Team titles[]

NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Tournament is located in USA Northeast
Minnesota
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Minnesota Duluth
Minnesota Duluth
Clarkson
Clarkson
Schools that have won the NCAA Championship
ButtonBlack.svg 6, ButtonRed.svg 5, ButtonGreen.svg 3
Team # Years
Minnesota 6 2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016
Wisconsin 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2019, 2021
Minnesota Duluth 5 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010
Clarkson 3 2014, 2017, 2018

Result by school and year[]

24 teams have appeared in the NCAA Tournament in at least one year starting with 2001 (the initial year that the post-season tournament was under the auspices of the NCAA). The results for all years are shown in this table below.

The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament:

  •  QF  Quarterfinals (did not exist until 2005)
  •  F4  Frozen Four
  •  RU  National Runner-up
  •  CH  National Champion
  •  •  Announced as a participant in the 2020 tournament before it was canceled
# F4 CH School 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Current Conf.
17 14 6 Minnesota F4 F4 CH CH RU QF F4 F4 QF CH CH RU CH CH F4 QF RU WCHA
14 13 6 Wisconsin QF CH CH RU CH CH RU F4 F4 F4 RU F4 CH CH WCHA
12 8 5 Minnesota Duluth CH CH CH QF QF RU CH F4 CH QF QF F4 WCHA
12 7 - Boston College F4 QF F4 F4 F4 QF F4 RU F4 QF QF QF Hockey East
12 4 - Mercyhurst QF QF QF QF RU F4 QF QF F4 F4 QF QF CHA
11 6 - Harvard F4 RU RU RU QF QF F4 QF QF QF RU ECAC
9 5 - St. Lawrence RU F4 F4 F4 F4 QF QF QF QF ECAC
8 5 3 Clarkson QF QF CH QF F4 CH CH F4 ECAC
8 4 - Dartmouth F4 F4 F4 F4 QF QF QF QF ECAC
7 4 - Cornell RU F4 F4 QF QF QF F4 ECAC
6 2 - Boston University QF RU QF RU QF QF Hockey East
5 2 - New Hampshire F4 QF F4 QF QF Hockey East
4 1 - Northeastern QF QF QF RU Hockey East
3 - - Princeton QF QF QF ECAC
2 2 - Ohio State F4 F4 WCHA
2 1 - Colgate RU QF ECAC
2 - - North Dakota QF QF defunct
2 - - Providence QF QF Hockey East
2 - - Quinnipiac QF QF ECAC
2 - - Robert Morris QF QF on hiatus[11]
1 1 - Brown RU ECAC
1 1 - Niagara F4 defunct
1 - - RIT QF CHA
1 - - Syracuse QF CHA

Broadcasting[]

In February 2017, the NCAA announced that it had reached a four-year deal with Big Ten Network to televise the Women's national championship game beginning in 2017, and the Frozen Four semi-finals beginning in 2018.[12]

In 2021, ESPN announced that it had acquired the rights under a multi-year deal, with ESPNU to air one semi-final and the national championship annually. The other semi-final will be carried via streaming.[13]

Year Network Play-by-play Analyst Sideline
2021 ESPNU Clay Matvick A. J. Mleczko
2019 BTN Margaux Farrell
2018 BTN Dan Kelly Sonny Watrous Allison Hayes
2017 BTN (Championship)
NCAA.com (Frozen Four)
Dan Kelly
Sonny Watrous
2016 NCAA.com Scott Sudikoff
2015 NCAA.com
2014 NCAA.com Leah Secondo A. J. Mleczko
2013 NCAA.com Will Flemming A. J. Mleczko

Records and statistics[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "NCAA tournament canceled". March 12, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "After season ends in NCAA cancellation, Badgers women's hockey team takes the ice anyway".
  3. ^ a b "NCAA Cancels Hockey Tournaments, Ending Top-Ranked Cornell Hockey Teams' Seasons". March 12, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Michael McKinley, Hockey A People's History, McClelland & Stewart ltd 2006, pp 237–238. ISBN 978-0-7710-5769-4
  5. ^ About Girls/Womens' (sic) Hockey
  6. ^ "Bylaw 20.4.1.2 Divisions II and III Members—Classification of a Sport in Division I" (PDF). 2010–11 NCAA Division I Manual. NCAA. p. 333. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  7. ^ "Bylaw 20.8.2 Division II Options When No Division II Championship Is Conducted" (PDF). 2010–11 NCAA Division I Manual. NCAA. p. 338. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  8. ^ a b c d "Boston, Tampa, Chicago, St. Paul get upcoming men's Frozen Fours". www.uscho.com. December 11, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2013. Women’s Frozen Fours were awarded to Minneapolis’ Ridder Arena in 2015 and 2018; the Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, N.H., in 2016; and the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., in 2017.
  9. ^ a b c d "2019 - 2022 Future NC NCAA Championship Sites". NCAA.com. April 18, 2017. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d "NCAA announces host site selections from 2022-23 to 2025-26". NCAA.com. October 19, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  11. ^ "RMU Reinstates Hockey Programs for 2023-24 | Robert Morris University". www.rmucolonials.com. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  12. ^ "College hockey: Women's Frozen Four to air on Big Ten Network". NCAA.com. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  13. ^ "ESPN picks up Women's Frozen Four rights starting this year". Awful Announcing. February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
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