National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Championship
| NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Tournament | |
|---|---|
| Sport | College ice hockey |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament |
| Current stadium | Whittemore Center |
| Current location | Durham, New Hampshire |
| Played | 2001–present |
| Last contest | 2016 |
| Current champion | Minnesota Golden Gophers (6) |
| Most championships | Minnesota Golden Gophers (6) |
| Official website | [1] |
The annual 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 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.
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 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.
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