2026 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey tournament

2026 NCAA National Collegiate Women's
ice hockey tournament
Teams11
Finals site
ChampionsWisconsin Badgers (9th title)
Runner-upOhio State Buckeyes (5th title game)
Semifinalists
Winning coachMark Johnson (9th title)
MOPAva McNaughton (Wisconsin)

The 2026 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament was a single-elimination tournament by eleven schools to help determine the national champion of women's NCAA Division I college ice hockey for the 2025–26 season. This was the fifth year the tournament features an expanded field of 11 teams.[1] The first round and quarterfinals were played on the campuses of the top 4 seeded teams on March 12 and March 14, 2026, while the Frozen Four is set to be played on March 20 and 22, 2026 at Pegula Ice Arena in College Township, Pennsylvania with a University Park mailing address.[2] Franklin Pierce made their first tournament appearance in school history while Penn State reached the Frozen Four for the first time ever. For the fourth consecutive year, the Wisconsin Badgers met the Ohio State Buckeyes for the national championship.

During the National Semifinal between Penn State and Wisconsin, a new women's Frozen Four attendance record was set at 5,176.[3]

Qualifying teams

Penn State
Ohio State
Connecticut
Quinnipiac
Franklin Pierce
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Minnesota Duluth
Northeastern
Yale
Princeton
2026 Qualifying Teams
WCHA, ECAC, Hockey East, AHA, NEWHA

In the fifth year under this qualification format, the winners of all five Division I conference tournaments will receive automatic berths to the NCAA tournament. The other six teams will be selected at-large. The top five teams are also seeded.[4]

Seed School Conference Record Berth type Appearance Last bid
1 Ohio State WCHA 34–4–0 Tournament champion 8th 2025
2 Wisconsin WCHA 32–4–2 At-large bid 20th 2025
3 Penn State AHA 32–5–0 Tournament champion 4th 2025
4 Minnesota WCHA 26–11–1 At-large bid 23rd 2025
5 Northeastern Hockey East 28–8–1 At-large bid 8th 2023
Connecticut Hockey East 27–8–2 Tournament champion 2nd 2024
Franklin Pierce NEWHA 23–11–2 Tournament champion 1st Never
Minnesota Duluth WCHA 20–14–3 At-large bid 17th 2025
Princeton ECAC 23–10–0 At-large bid 5th 2020
Quinnipiac ECAC 28–8–3 Tournament champion 5th 2023
Yale ECAC 25–9–0 At-large bid 3rd 2023

Bids by state

Bids State School(s)
3 Connecticut UConn, Yale, Quinnipiac
2 Minnesota Minnesota, Minnesota Duluth
1 New Hampshire Franklin Pierce
Massachusetts Northeastern
New Jersey Princeton
Ohio Ohio State
Pennsylvania Penn State
Wisconsin Wisconsin

Bracket

First Round
March 12 		National Quarterfinals
March 14 		National Semifinals
March 20 		National Championship
March 22
Yale 1
Minnesota Duluth 0 1 Ohio State 6
Yale 1 1 Ohio State 5
5 Northeastern 0
5 Northeastern 4
4 Minnesota 2
1 Ohio State 2
2 Wisconsin 3
UConn 0
Princeton 1 3 Penn State 3
UConn 4 3 Penn State 3
2 Wisconsin 4*
Quinnipiac 0
Franklin Pierce 0 2 Wisconsin 6
Quinnipiac 4

Note: * denotes one overtime period

Results

First Round

Franklin Pierce vs. Quinnipiac

March 12, 2026
7:00 pm		Franklin Pierce0–4
(0–0, 0–2, 0–2)		QuinnipiacLaBahn Arena
Attendance: 560
[Game reference 1]
Jill HertlGoaliesFelicia FrankReferees:
Sarma Pone
Duncan Ryhorchuk
Linesmen:
Douglas Durgin
Sam Jerome
0–135:50 – Jarvis (Lamarche)
0–239:31.8 – Prier (Lamarche, Jarvis)
0–352:16 – Cormier (Johnson, D'Ottavio)
0–454:51 – Frenette (Cormier, Lopata)
2 minPenalties6 min
29Shots53

Princeton vs. UConn

March 12, 2026
7:00 pm		Princeton1–4
(0–1, 1–1, 0–2)		UConnPegula Ice Arena
Attendance: 326
[Game reference 2]
Uma CornieaGoaliesTia ChanReferees:
Gui Bradshaw
Jordan Lee
Linesmen:
Aaron Neville
Glendon Seal
0–116:11 – Eryou (Allard, Murdoch)
Sorokan (Dimatos, Kuehl) – 27:481–1
1–232:04 – Josifovic (Murdoch)
1–347:04 – Josifovic (Serdachny, Murdoch)
1–457:52 – en – Pellerin (Woodworth)
2 minPenalties4 min
42Shots30

Minnesota Duluth vs. Yale

March 12, 2026
6:00 pm		Minnesota Duluth0–1
(0–0, 0–1, 0–0)		YaleOhio State University Ice Rink
Attendance: 285
[Game reference 3]
Ève GasconGoaliesSamson FreyReferees:
Christopher Binkley
Mackenzie Gaydosh
Linesmen:
Andy Zawada
Ashley Johnston
0–136:15 – Boyle (Levering, Stainton)
8 minPenalties0 min
37Shots37

Quarterfinals

Yale at (1) Ohio State

March 14, 2026
6:00 pm		Yale1-6
(1–1, 0–3, 0-2)		Ohio StateOhio State University Ice Rink
Attendance: 690
[Game reference 4]
Samson FreyGoaliesHailey MacLeodReferees:
Kelly Cooke
Dmitrii Antipin
Linesmen:
Andrew Kirk
Charlie Tremblay
0–16:01 – Amos (Dunne, Peschel)
Boyle (Peters) – 11:251–1
1–223:39 – Malachino (Amos)
1–326:36 – Matthews (Jungåker, Amos)
1–434:53 – Baxter (Matthews, Vanhanen)
1–541:57 – Matthews (Vanhanen)
1–658:35 – Amos (Carmichael, Cimoroni)
10 minPenalties6 min
23Shots49

(5) Northeastern at (4) Minnesota

March 14, 2026
3:00 pm		Northeastern4–2
(3–0, 1–0, 0–2)		MinnesotaRidder Arena
Attendance: 2,266
[Game reference 5]
Lisa JönssonGoaliesHannah Clark
Layla Hemp		Referees:
Amanda Tassoni
Paul Maciejewski
Linesmen:
Sarah Buckner
Coby Munson
Caron – 5:031–0
Zablocki (Caron, Baechler) – 8:532–0
Langlois (Baechler, Lalonde) – pp – 14:313–0
Jackson (Lalonde, Compton) – 32:214–0
4–151:10 – pp – Murphy (Bouveng, Morrow)
4–258:29 – pp – Murphy (Morrow, Primerano)
8 minPenalties2 min
24Shots47

UConn at (3) Penn State

March 14, 2026
2:00 pm		UConn0–3
(0–1, 0–0, 0–2)		Penn StatePegula Ice Arena
Attendance: 1,615
[Game reference 6]
Tia ChanGoaliesKatie DeSaReferees:
William O'Malley
Tom Lynch
Linesmen:
Marc Silva
Robert Lemnah
0–11:40 – Fantin (Hall)
0–253:30 – Janecke
0–359:43 – en – Stonehouse
8 minPenalties4 min
36Shots42

Quinnipiac at (2) Wisconsin

March 12, 2026
2:00 pm		Quinnipiac0–6
(0–2, 0–2, 0–2)		WisconsinLaBahn Arena
Attendance: 2,400
[Game reference 7]
Felicia FrankGoaliesAva McNaughtonReferees:
Steven Saul
Laura Schmidlein
Linesmen:
Heidi Niskanen
Jennifer Cameron-Ward
0–12:33 – K. Gorbatenko (Eden, Hall)
0–217:29 – pp – Simms (Edwards, Harvey)
0–321:18 – Šapovalivová (Simms, Murphy)
0–437:10 – K. Gorbatenko (Hall)
0–553:28 – sh – Eden (Potter)
0–657:09 – en – K. Gorbatenko (Jones, Venusio)
11 minPenalties6 min
17Shots51

Semifinals

(5) Northeastern vs. (1) Ohio State

March 20, 2026
4:00 pm		Northeastern0–5
(0–4, 0–0, 0–1)		Ohio StatePegula Ice Arena
Attendance: 1,960
[Game reference 8]
Lisa JönssonGoaliesHailey MacLeodReferees:
William O'Malley
Tom Lynch
Linesmen:
Marc Silva
Robert Lemnah
0–110:14 – Dunne (Amos, Jungåker)
0–216:33 – Malachino
0–317:36 – Vanhanen (Svensson)
0–419:59.4 – Peschel (Dunne, Matthews)
0–542:31 – Swiderski (Baxter, Malachino)
6 minPenalties8 min
15Shots42

(3) Penn State vs. (2) Wisconsin

March 20, 2026
7:30 pm		Penn State3–4 OT
(2–1, 0–2, 1–0)
OT: (0–1)		WisconsinPegula Ice Arena
Attendance: 5,176
[Game reference 9]
Katie DeSaGoaliesAva McNaughtonReferees:
Kelly Cooke
Dmitrii Antipin
Linesmen:
Andrew Kirk
Charlie Tremblay
Janecke (Roberts, Butze) – pp – 1:521–0
1–14:31 – Edwards (Simms, Šapovalivová)
Stonehouse (Christian, Keller) – pp – 7:532–1
2–228:11 – pp – Edwards (Simms, Šapovalivová)
2–336:09 – Šapovalivová (Eden, K. Gorbatenko)
Janecke (Hall) – 55:073–3
3–460:50 – pp – Simms (Harvey, Edwards)
8 minPenalties12 min
25Shots35

Championship

(2) Wisconsin vs. (1) Ohio State

March 22, 2026
4:00 pm		Wisconsin3–2
(2–0, 0–0, 1–2)		Ohio StatePegula Ice Arena
Attendance: 3,785
[Game reference 10]
Ava McNaughtonGoaliesHailey MacLeodReferees:
Amanda Tassoni
Paul Maciejewski
Linesmen:
Colby Munson
Sarah Bucker
K. Gorbatenko (Šapovalivová, Eden) – 1:181–0
Potter (K. Gorbatenko, Šapovalivová) – 7:342–0
2–143:32 – Carmichael (Jungåker, Svensson)
2–245:34 – Amos (Peschel, Dunne)
Enright (Picard, Harvey) – 53:423–2
2 minPenalties12 min
34Shots36

Tournament awards

All-Tournament Team

* Most Outstanding Player[5]

References

  1. ^ Haase, Nicole (December 16, 2021). "Division I Women's Hockey: NCAA approves immediate expansion of bracket; 11 teams to compete in 2022 National Championship tournament". USCHO.com. Archived from the original on December 26, 2024. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  2. ^ "NCAA announces host site selections from 2022-23 to 2025-26". NCAA.com. October 19, 2020. Archived from the original on December 3, 2023. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  3. ^ "Ohio State and Wisconsin each win at the women's Frozen Four to set up 4th straight title meeting". The Washington Post. March 21, 2026. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 21, 2026.
  4. ^ "The NC women's hockey championship selection process, explained". NCAA.com. February 23, 2023. Archived from the original on March 1, 2024. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  5. ^ "Another Banner Night for Badgers". College Hockey Inc. Retrieved March 24, 2026.

Game references

  1. ^ "Franklin Pierce vs. Quinnipiac". gobobcats.com. Quinnipiac University. March 12, 2026. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  2. ^ "Princeton vs. UConn". uconnhuskies.com. University of Connecticut. March 12, 2026. Retrieved March 12, 2026.
  3. ^ "Minnesota Duluth vs. Yale". yalebulldogs.com. Yale University. March 12, 2026. Retrieved March 12, 2026.
  4. ^ "Yale vs Ohio State". ohiostatebuckeyes.com. Ohio State University. March 14, 2026. Retrieved March 14, 2026.
  5. ^ "Northeastern vs. Minnesota". nuhuskies.com. Northeastern University. March 14, 2026. Retrieved March 14, 2026.
  6. ^ "UConn vs. Penn State". gopsusports.com. Pennsylvania State University. March 14, 2026. Retrieved March 14, 2026.
  7. ^ "Quinnipiac vs. Wisconsin". gopsusports.com. University of Wisconsin. March 14, 2026. Retrieved March 14, 2026.
  8. ^ "Northeastern vs Ohio State". ohiostatebuckeyes.com. Ohio State University. March 20, 2026. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
  9. ^ "Penn State vs Wisconsin". uwbadgers.com. University of Wisconsin. March 20, 2026. Retrieved March 21, 2026.
  10. ^ "Wisconsin vs. Ohio State". uwbadgers.com. University of Wisconsin. March 22, 2026. Retrieved March 23, 2026.
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