NCAA women's ice hockey 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.Michael McKinley, Hockey A People's History, McClelland & Stewart ltd 2006, pp 237–238.

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. 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. 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

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. 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.

Year Champion Coach Score Runner-up Coach City Arena2001Minnesota Duluth Shannon Miller4–2St. LawrencePaul FlanaganMinneapolis, MNMariucci Arena2002Minnesota Duluth (2) Shannon Miller3–2BrownDigit MurphyDurham, NHWhittemore Center2003Minnesota Duluth (3) Shannon Miller4–3 (2OT)HarvardKatey StoneDuluth, MNDECC Arena2004MinnesotaLaura Halldorson6–2HarvardKatey StoneProvidence, RIDunkin' Donuts Center 2005Minnesota (2) Laura Halldorson4–3HarvardKatey StoneDurham, NHWhittemore Center2006WisconsinMark Johnson3–0MinnesotaLaura HalldorsonMinneapolis, MNMariucci Arena2007Wisconsin (2) Mark Johnson 4–1 Minnesota DuluthShannon MillerLake Placid, NYHerb Brooks Arena2008Minnesota Duluth (4) Shannon Miller 4–0 WisconsinMark JohnsonDuluth, MNDECC Arena2009Wisconsin (3) Mark Johnson 5–0 MercyhurstMichael SistiBoston, MAAgganis Arena2010Minnesota Duluth (5) Shannon Miller 3–2 (3OT) Cornell Doug DerraughMinneapolis, MNRidder Arena2011Wisconsin (4) Mark Johnson 4–1 Boston University Brian DurocherErie, PATullio Arena2012Minnesota (3) Brad Frost 4–2 WisconsinMark JohnsonDuluth, MNAMSOIL Arena2013Minnesota (4) Brad Frost6–3Boston UniversityBrian DurocherMinneapolis, MNRidder Arena2014 Clarkson Shannon & Matt Desrosiers 5–4 MinnesotaBrad Frost Hamden, CT People's United Center2015 Minnesota (5) Brad Frost 4–1 HarvardKatey Stone Minneapolis, MN Ridder Arena2016 Minnesota (6) Brad Frost 3–1 Boston College Katie King-Crowley Durham, NH Whittemore Center2017 Clarkson (2) Matt Desrosiers 3–0 WisconsinMark Johnson St. Charles, MO Family Arena2018 Clarkson (3)Matt Desrosiers 2–1 (OT) Colgate Greg Fargo Minneapolis, MN Ridder Arena2019Wisconsin (5)Mark Johnson2–0MinnesotaBrad FrostHamden, CTPeople's United Center2020Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemicBoston, MAAgganis Arena2021Wisconsin (6)Mark Johnson2–1 (OT) NortheasternDave FlintErie, PAErie Insurance Arena2022Ohio StateNadine Muzerall3–2Minnesota DuluthMaura CrowellUniversity Park, PAPegula Ice Arena2023Wisconsin (7)Mark Johnson1–0Ohio StateNadine MuzerallDuluth, MNAMSOIL Arena2024Ohio State (2)Nadine Muzerall1–0WisconsinMark JohnsonDurham, NHWhittemore Center2025Wisconsin (8)Mark Johnson4–3 (OT) Ohio StateNadine MuzerallMinneapolis, MNRidder Arena2026Wisconsin (9)Mark Johnson3–2Ohio StateNadine MuzerallUniversity Park, PAPegula Ice Arena2027Duluth, MNAMSOIL Arena2028Fairfield, CTMartire Family Arena

Team titles

Team #Years 9 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2025, 2026 6 2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 5 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010 3 2014, 2017, 2018 2 2022, 2024

Result by school and year NCAA Division I Women's Hockey Tournament appearances by school

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

To the left of each result, the team's seed is shown in superscript. The top 4 teams seeded, 2001 through 2021, except for 2002 (two 1s and two 2s) and 2005 and 2006 (only the top 2 seeded). The top 5 teams seeded, 2022 through present

School Conference(as of 2026–27) # WCHA 20 17 13 9 WCHA 23 16 9 6 WCHA 17 9 7 5 ECAC 13 6 3 3 WCHA 8 7 5 2 ECAC 12 6 4 - 7 2 2 - Hockey East 12 7 1 - ECAC 11 5 1 - ECAC 10 5 1 - AHA 13 4 1 - Hockey East 8 4 1 - ECAC 6 2 1 - ECAC 1 1 1 - ECAC 8 4 - - Hockey East 5 2 - - AHA 4 1 - - ECAC 3 1 - - defunct 1 1 - - ECAC 5 - - - ECAC 5 - - - Hockey East 2 - - - defunct 2 - - - AHA 2 - - - AHA 2 - - - Hockey East 2 - - - AHA 1 - - - NEWHA 1 - - - NEWHA 1 - - - NEWHA 1 - - - NEWHA 1 - - -

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.

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.

Year Network Play-by-play Analyst Sideline 2010 CBS College Sports Dave Ryan Angela Ruggiero 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 Sudikoff2017BTN Dan KellySonny 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 2026 ESPNU Jason Ross Jr. (Frozen Four) A. J. Mleczko Madison PackerJohn Buccigross (National Championship)

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

NCAA women's ice hockey tournament

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