NCAA women's ice hockey tournament

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox NCAA conference tournament 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.

Unlike most NCAA sports, women's ice hockey uses a modified version of the National Collegiate championship format, which means Division I and Division II teams compete against each other in the same tournament.

The semifinals and championship game of the tournament are branded as the women's "Frozen Four", a reference to the NCAA's long-time branding of its basketball semi-finals as the "Final Four".

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 of the Ivy League schools have similar histories.<ref name="Michael McKinley 2006, pp 237">Michael McKinley, Hockey A People's History, McClelland & Stewart ltd 2006, pp 237–238. Template:ISBN</ref>

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.<ref name="Michael McKinley 2006, pp 237"/> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 defeating the St. Lawrence Skating Saints 4–2 in the championship game.

NCAA Division I women's ice hockey

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} In all, 44 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—Atlantic Hockey America, ECAC Hockey, Hockey East, New England Women's Hockey Alliance, and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 eleven teams. The semi-finals and final 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. In 2022, Ohio State won the national championship, making them the 4th WCHA team to win. 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. Atlantic Hockey America played its first season in 2024–25; its women's predecessor, CHA, had one title game appearance, by Mercyhurst in 2009. The 2020 championship was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref name=bettersay>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=wisconsinsay>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=cornellsay>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Year	Champion	Coach	Score	Runner-up	Coach	City	Arena
2001	Minnesota Duluth	Shannon Miller	4–2	St. Lawrence	Paul Flanagan	Minneapolis, MN	Mariucci Arena
2002	Minnesota Duluth (2)	Shannon Miller	3–2	Brown	Digit Murphy	Durham, NH	Whittemore Center
2003	Minnesota Duluth (3)	Shannon Miller	4–3 (2OT)	Harvard	Katey Stone	Duluth, MN	DECC Arena
2004	Minnesota	Laura Halldorson	6–2	Harvard	Katey Stone	Providence, RI	Dunkin' Donuts Center
2005	Minnesota (2)	Laura Halldorson	4–3	Harvard	Katey Stone	Durham, NH	Whittemore Center
2006	Wisconsin	Mark Johnson	3–0	Minnesota	Laura Halldorson	Minneapolis, MN	Mariucci Arena
2007	Wisconsin (2)	Mark Johnson	4–1	Minnesota Duluth	Shannon Miller	Lake Placid, NY	Herb Brooks Arena
2008	Minnesota Duluth (4)	Shannon Miller	4–0	Wisconsin	Mark Johnson	Duluth, MN	DECC Arena
2009	Wisconsin (3)	Mark Johnson	5–0	Mercyhurst	Michael Sisti	Boston, MA	Agganis Arena
2010	Minnesota Duluth (5)	Shannon Miller	3–2 (3OT)	Cornell	Doug Derraugh	Minneapolis, MN	Ridder Arena
2011	Wisconsin (4)	Mark Johnson	4–1	Boston University	Brian Durocher	Erie, PA	Erie Insurance Arena
2012	Minnesota (3)	Brad Frost	4–2	Wisconsin	Mark Johnson	Duluth, MN	AMSOIL Arena
2013	Minnesota (4)	Brad Frost	6–3	Boston University	Brian Durocher	Minneapolis, MN	Ridder Arena
2014	Clarkson	Shannon & Matt Desrosiers	5–4	Minnesota	Brad Frost	Hamden, CT	People's United Center
2015	Minnesota (5)	Brad Frost	4–1	Harvard	Katey Stone	Minneapolis, MN	Ridder Arena<ref name="2015-2016-2017-2018"> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2016	Minnesota (6)	Brad Frost	3–1	Boston College	Katie King-Crowley	Durham, NH	Whittemore Center<ref name="2015-2016-2017-2018"/>
2017	Clarkson (2)	Matt Desrosiers	3–0	Wisconsin	Mark Johnson	St. Charles, MO	Family Arena<ref name="2015-2016-2017-2018"/>
2018	Clarkson (3)	Matt Desrosiers	2–1 (OT)	Colgate	Greg Fargo	Minneapolis, MN	Ridder Arena<ref name="2015-2016-2017-2018" />
2019	Wisconsin (5)	Mark Johnson	2–0	Minnesota	Brad Frost	Hamden, CT	People's United Center<ref name="2019-2022">Template:Cite news</ref>
2020	Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic					Boston, MA	Agganis Arena<ref name="2019-2022" />
2021	Wisconsin (6)	Mark Johnson	2–1 (OT)	Northeastern	Dave Flint	Erie, PA	Erie Insurance Arena<ref name="2019-2022" />
2022	Ohio State	Nadine Muzerall	3–2	Minnesota Duluth	Maura Crowell	College Township, PA	Pegula Ice Arena<ref name="2019-2022" />
2023	Wisconsin (7)	Mark Johnson	1–0	Ohio State	Nadine Muzerall	Duluth, MN	AMSOIL Arena<ref name="2023-2026">Template:Cite news</ref>
2024	Ohio State (2)	Nadine Muzerall	1–0	Wisconsin	Mark Johnson	Durham, NH	Whittemore Center<ref name="2023-2026" />
2025	Wisconsin (8)	Mark Johnson	4–3 (OT)	Ohio State	Nadine Muzerall	Minneapolis, MN	Ridder Arena<ref name="2023-2026" />
2026						College Township, PA	Pegula Ice Arena<ref name="2023-2026" />
2027						Duluth, MN	AMSOIL Arena<ref name="2027-2028">Template:Cite news</ref>
2028						Fairfield, CT	Martire Family Arena<ref name="2027-2028"/>

Result by school and year

• NCAA Division I Women's Hockey Tournament appearances by school

30 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:

• Template:Colorbox First round (did not exist until 2022)
• Template:Colorbox Quarterfinals (did not exist until 2005)
  • Template:Colorbox 8 teams selected in 2020 before the tournament was canceled.
• Template:Colorbox Frozen Four
• Template:Colorbox National Runner-up
• Template:Colorbox National Champion

The No. 1 overall seed in the tournament is shown with a Template:Underline.

School	Conference as of 2024	#	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	[[2001 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2002 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2003 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2004 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2005 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2006 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2007 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2008 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2009 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2010 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2011 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2012 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2013 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2014 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2015 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2016 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2017 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2018 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2019 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2020 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:Ifsubst style="color:black">20]]	[[2021 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2022 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2023 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2024 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]	[[2025 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey tournament|Template:White]]
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey|Template:White]]	WCHA	19	16	12	8					Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Underline	Template:Sort	Template:Underline		Template:Underline	Template:Underline		Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Underline	Template:Sort	Template:Underline	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Underline
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | Template:CollegeSecondaryColorLink	WCHA	22	16	9	6		Template:Underline	Template:Sort	Template:Underline	Template:Underline	Template:Sort		Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Underline	Template:Underline	Template:Underline	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort		Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | Template:CollegeSecondaryColorLink	WCHA	16	9	7	5	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Underline		Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort						Template:Sort				Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | Template:CollegeSecondaryColorLink	ECAC	13	6	3	3										Template:Sort			Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Underline	Template:Sort	Template:Sort		Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[Ohio State Buckeyes women's ice hockey|Template:White]]	WCHA	7	6	4	2																		Template:Sort		Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Underline	Template:Underline	Template:Underline	Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[Harvard Crimson women's ice hockey|Template:White]]	ECAC	12	6	4	–	Template:Sort		Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Underline		Template:Sort			Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort							Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | Template:Nowrap	Hockey East	7	2	2	–										Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort										Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | Template:CollegeSecondaryColorLink	Hockey East	12	7	1	–							Template:Sort		Template:Sort		Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Underline	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort		Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[St. Lawrence Saints women's ice hockey|Template:White]]	ECAC	11	5	1	–	Template:Sort			Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort			Template:Sort					Template:Sort							Template:Sort	Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[Cornell Big Red women's ice hockey|Template:White]]	ECAC	10	5	1	–										Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort			Template:Sort		Template:Sort	Template:Underline				Template:Sort	Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[Mercyhurst Lakers women's ice hockey|Template:White]]	AHA	13	4	1	–					Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Underline	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort		Template:Sort		Template:Sort		Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[Northeastern Huskies women's ice hockey|Template:White]]	Hockey East	7	3	1	–																Template:Sort		Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Underline	Template:Sort	Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[Colgate Raiders women's ice hockey|Template:White]]	ECAC	6	2	1	–																		Template:Sort			Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[Brown Bears women's ice hockey|Template:White]]	ECAC	1	1	1	–		Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[Dartmouth Big Green women's ice hockey|Template:White]]	ECAC	8	4	–	–	Template:Underline		Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort		Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort		Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | Template:CollegeSecondaryColorLink	Hockey East	5	2	–	–						Template:Underline	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[Yale Bulldogs women's ice hockey|Template:White]]	ECAC	2	1	–	–																						Template:Sort	Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[Niagara Purple Eagles women's ice hockey|Template:White]]	defunct	1	1	–	–		Template:Underline
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | Template:CollegeSecondaryColorLink	ECAC	4	–	–	–						Template:Sort										Template:Sort			Template:Sort	Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | Template:CollegeSecondaryColorLink	ECAC	4	–	–	–															Template:Sort	Template:Sort						Template:Sort	Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[Penn State Nittany Lions women's ice hockey|Template:White]]	AHA	3	–	–	–																							Template:Sort	Template:Sort	Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | Template:CollegeSecondaryColorLink	Hockey East	2	–	–	–					Template:Sort																Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[North Dakota Fighting Hawks women's ice hockey|Template:Ifsubst style="color:black">North Dakota]]	defunct	2	–	–	–												Template:Sort	Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[Robert Morris Colonials women's ice hockey|Template:White]]	AHA	2	–	–	–																	Template:Sort				Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | Template:CollegeSecondaryColorLink	AHA	2	–	–	–																			Template:Sort			Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[RIT Tigers women's ice hockey|Template:Ifsubst style="color:black">RIT]]	AHA	1	–	–	–															Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[LIU Sharks women's ice hockey|Template:Ifsubst style="color:black">LIU]]	NEWHA	1	–	–	–																							Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[UConn Huskies women's ice hockey|Template:White]]	Hockey East	1	–	–	–																								Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[Stonehill Skyhawks women's ice hockey|Template:White]]	NEWHA	1	–	–	–																								Template:Sort
style="Template:NCAA color cell" | [[Sacred Heart Pioneers women's ice hockey|Template:White]]	NEWHA	1	–	–	–																									Template:Sort

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Year	Network	Play-by-play	Analyst	Sideline
2011	NCAA.com	Jamie Smock	A. J. Mleczko
2012	NCAA.com	Matt Menzl	A. J. Mleczko
2013	NCAA.com	Will Flemming	A. J. Mleczko
2014	NCAA.com	Leah Secondo	A. J. Mleczko
2015	NCAA.com	Leah Secondo
2016	NCAA.com	Scott Sudikoff
2017	BTN	Dan Kelly	Sonny Watrous	Sara Dayley
		Scott Sudikoff
2018	BTN	Dan Kelly	Sonny Watrous	Allison Hayes
2019	BTN	Chris Vosters	Sonny Watrous	Margaux Farrell
2021	ESPNU	Clay Matvick	A. J. Mleczko
2022	ESPN+	Clay Matvick	A. J. Mleczko	Hilary Knight
2023	ESPN+	Clay Matvick	A. J. Mleczko	Hilary Knight
2024	ESPNU	Leah Hextall	A. J. Mleczko	Dana Boyle
2025	ESPNU	Jason Ross Jr.	A. J. Mleczko	Blake Bolden

Records and statistics

• NCAA Division I women's ice hockey tournament Most Outstanding Player
• NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament all-time team records

See also

• NCAA Division III women's ice hockey tournament
• NCAA men's ice hockey championship