The New England Women's Hockey Alliance (NEWHA) is a women's college ice hockey conference in the United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. As of the most recent 2023–24 NCAA hockey season, the conference is made up of eight teams, with two each in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, and one each in New York and Vermont.
History Prior to 2017, the women's ice hockey program at Sacred Heart University was a longstanding independent team, part of no conference. In that year, three NCAA Division II colleges and one Division I college (College of the Holy Cross) were removed from their NCAA Division III hockey conference (the New England Hockey Conference, formerly the ECAC East). Those teams had previously not been eligible for postseason play, but the conference no longer wanted Division I and II teams playing a conference schedule at all. A sixth team, from Post University, announced plans to start playing that year as well.
Sacred Heart, Post, and the other four programs (Holy Cross, St. Michael's, St. Anselm, and Franklin Pierce) then formed a scheduling alliance called the New England Women's Hockey Alliance. This was not a formal conference affiliation, just an agreement among the teams to schedule each other during the regular season; officially the teams would be classified as Division I or Division II independents. (NCAA women's ice hockey makes no distinction between Divisions I and II; the NCAA operates a single National Collegiate Championship for women's hockey that includes both Division I and Division II teams, and scholarship limits in that sport are identical in both divisions.)
Holy Cross intended to be independent only for one season, applying for and gaining membership in Hockey East effective 2018. In that year, the other NEWHA members announced plans to adhere to Division I recruiting rules and offer scholarships, and so applied to the NCAA for the NEWHA to be recognized as an official Division I conference. They also announced the conference would include Long Island University's team when it began play in 2019. NEWHA was approved as a Division I NCAA conference in September 2019. The conference will need to play at least two seasons with the same six members before being granted an automatic bid to the National Collegiate Championship playoffs in women's ice hockey.
The NEWHA expanded to seven members in 2022 with the arrival of Stonehill College, which started a varsity women's hockey team in the 2022–23 season. Stonehill had initially planned to start play in 2021–22, but NCAA-imposed recruiting limits imposed in the wake of COVID-19 led the school to delay the team's start by a year. The latest addition to the NEWHA is Assumption University, which joined for administrative purposes on July 1, 2022, in advance of its first season of varsity play in 2023–24.
On February 22, 2020, Saint Anselm and Franklin Pierce broke the record for longest NCAA women's hockey game with a five-overtime contest in the NEWHA Playoff Tournament that went 147:24. The game eclipsed the previous record of 144:32 in a 2010 game featuring RPI and Quinnipiac.
Beginning with 2023, the winner of the NEWHA Tournament earned an automatic bid to the NCAA women's ice hockey tournament.https://www.newhaonline.com/sports/wice/2022-23/releases/20230218xgd2io
On April 22, 2026, Saint Anselm announced that it would transition its athletic program from Division II to Division III after the 2026–27 school year. It will join the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference.
Members Current members Departing member Saint Anselm in pink.
Institution Location Nickname Founded Affiliation Enrollment Joined Men's hockey conference Primary conference Colors Assumption University Worcester, MA Greyhounds 1904 Private (Catholic) 2,349 2023 Northeast-10 (D-II) Northeast-10 (D-II) Franklin Pierce University Rindge, NH Ravens 1962 Private (Nonsectarian) 2,381 2017 Northeast-10 (D-II) Northeast-10 (D-II) Long Island University Brooklyn/Brookville, NY Sharks 1926 Private (Nonsectarian) 18,500 2019 Independent Northeast Conference Post University Waterbury, CT Eagles 1890 Private (For-profit) 849 2017 Northeast-10 (D-II) Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (D-II) Sacred Heart University Fairfield, CT Pioneers 1963 Private (Catholic) 5,428 2017 Atlantic Hockey America Metro Conference Saint Anselm College Goffstown, NH Hawks 1889 Private (Catholic) 2,015 2017 Northeast-10 (D-II) Northeast-10 (D-II) Saint Michael's College Colchester, VT Purple Knights 1904 Private (Catholic) 1,600 2017 Northeast-10 (D-II) Northeast-10 (D-II) Stonehill College Easton, MA Skyhawks 1948 Private (Catholic) 2,500 2022 Independent Northeast Conference
Former member InstitutionLocationFoundedTypeNicknameJoinedLeftCurrentConference Worcester, Massachusetts1843Private (Catholic)Crusaders20172018Hockey East
Membership timeline
Champions 2017–18 2018 Saint Anselm (1) Sacred Heart (1) New England Women's Hockey Alliance founded by Franklin Pierce, Holy Cross, Post, Sacred Heart, Saint Anselm, and Saint Michael's. Final NEWHA season for Holy Cross, (leaving for Hockey East). 2018–19 2019 Saint Anselm (2) Saint Anselm (1) 2019–20 2020 Sacred Heart (1) LIU (1) LIU joins the NEWHA. 2020–21 2021 – –Season canceled due to COVID-19 2021–22 2022 Franklin Pierce (1)LIU (1) Franklin Pierce (1) 2022–23 2023 LIU (2) LIU (2) Stonehill joins the NEWHA. 2023–24 2024 LIU (3) Stonehill (1) Assumption joins the NEWHA. 2024–25 2025 LIU (4) Sacred Heart (2) 2025–262026 Franklin Pierce (2) Franklin Pierce (2)
New England Women's Hockey Alliance tournament champions by school 2022, 20262022, 20262022, 2023, 2024, 20252020, 2023 20202018, 20252018, 20192019 2024
National tournament history 2023LIUWisconsinL 1–92024StonehillCornellL 1–72025Sacred HeartMinnesota DuluthL 1–62026Franklin PierceQuinnipiacL 0–4
Conference arenas Worcester Ice CenterWorcester, MA1,500Jason Ritchie Ice ArenaWinchendon, MA500Northwell Health Ice CenterEast Meadow, NY2,500Sports Center of ConnecticutShelton, CTMartire Family ArenaFairfield, CT3,600Thomas F. Sullivan ArenaGoffstown, NH2,700Cairns ArenaSouth Burlington, VT600Bridgewater Ice ArenaBridgewater, MA1,000
See also NCAA women's ice hockey tournament (National Collegiate division)
References