Women's College Hockey in the USA

More general information and results for Women's College hockey in the USA may also be found in the Women's University Hockey page. The page that you are viewing now primarily contains information about the teams that participate in each league. The championship page lists the collegiate winners by year. Please see Mitzi Witchger's and Richard Hungerford's information for lists of which colleges have women's varsity hockey teams.

Contact information for most teams that are listed on this page is available through Richard Hungerford's College Hockey Directory. Richard also provides other great college hockey information.

If anyone has information about new teams for next season, or teams that will be in different leagues, please send it to me, and I'll try to keep this page as up-to-date as possible. Thanks in advance.

The USA Hockey web page also has information about Women's College hockey teams. See the College Sports TV web page for information about women's college hockey TV coverage.

Related Articles

• 180112
  Nadine Muzerall has transformed the Ohio State women’s hockey programme utterly. She saw that the players needed her, and started making things happen. Find out what’s happening with Ohio State women’s hockey
  
  
• 180111
  The shock drop of women’s hockey by the University of North Dakota is going to impact the community heavily. Girls are going to lose great role models. A huge void is left by the closure of UND’s women’s hockey.
  
  
• 171101
  The competition and performances among teams and players are tightening in Women’s College Hockey in America. This makes everything more exciting. US Women’s Hockey – Competition and players strengthen!
  
  
• 171025
  The Bulldogs and Gophers Women’s Hockey college teams are closely matched. There has always been intense rivalry here, making for thrilling games. The UDM-Minnesota U Women’s Hockey Rivalry Continues.
  
  
• 170930
  Uncover what’s going on with the women’s hockey team over at UVM, as Plumer tries to navigate new coaches and rookie players. Expectations have been raised for the Women's Hockey Team at UVM.

Hockey East (HE) Division I

• Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA
• University of Connecticut
• University of Maine, Orono, ME
• University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
  • UNH Women's Hockey Page
  • 1995-96 UNH Roster
• Northeastern University, Boston, MA ( see also)
• Providence College, Providence, RI
  • 1995-96 Providence Roster

Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division I

Teams:

• Brown University, Providence, RI #
• Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
• Cornell University, Ithaca, NY #
• Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH #
• Harvard University, Cambridge, MA #
• Princeton University, Princeton, NJ #
• St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY
• Union College, Schenectady, NY
• University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
• Yale University, New Haven, CT #

Past ECAC Division I Tournament Champions:

• 2000 TBA
• 1999 Harvard
• 1998 Brown
• 1997 Northeastern
• 1996 New Hampshire
• 1995 Providence
• 1994 Providence
• 1993 Providence
• 1992 Providence
• 1991 New Hampshire
• 1990 New Hampshire
• 1989 Northeastern
• 1988 Northeastern
• 1987 New Hampshire
• 1986 New Hampshire
• 1985 Providence
• 1984 Providence

Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Division I

[April 29, 1999] In an historic vote, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association established a new women's league at its 1999 annual meeting in Marco Island, Florida. The unanimous vote followed a year-long planning process.

"This is indeed a significant development for the WCHA," said Darrell Smith, Chair of the Association and Faculty Representative from Michigan Tech University. "We are all looking forward to playing a major role in the continuing evolution and development of women's ice hockey at all levels and the opportunity to build on, and add to, the great history and tradition of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association."

Inaugural members of the WCHA women's league are Minnesota State University, University of Minnesota; University of Minnesota-Duluth; St. Cloud State University; and University of Wisconsin. In addition, Bemidji State University and Ohio State University have been invited to join the women's league.

The women's league will begin play for the 1999-2000 season and will included a 24-game conference schedule and a year-end league tournament.

• Bemidji State, Bemidji, MN
• University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
• University of Minnesota-Duluth, Duluth
• Minnesota State University (formerly Mankato), Mankato, MN ( see also)
• Ohio State University, Columbus, OH ( see also)
• St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN
• University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

College Hockey America (CHA) Division I

• University of Findlay
• Mercyhurst College, Erie, PA
• Niagara University, Niagara Falls, NY
• Wayne State, Detroit, MI

Division I Independent Varsity

The following universities are varsity teams that are not associated with a particular conference:

• Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY (see also)
• North Dakota
• Quinnipiac University, CT (new for 2000-2001)
• Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT

New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Division III

• Amherst College, Amherst, MA
• Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME
• Colby College, Waterville, ME
• Connecticut College, New London, CT
• Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
• Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT
• Trinity College, Hartford, CT
• Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
• Williams College, Williamstown, MA

Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III

East

• Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA (ECAC DIII)
• Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY (ECAC DIII)
• University of Massachusetts - Boston, Boston, MA
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA
• New England College
• Rensselaer (RPI), Troy, NY
• Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Rochester, NY
• Salve Regina
• University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME
• St. Michael's College, Burlington, VT

West

• Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY
• Chatham College, Pittsburgh, PA
• Cortland SUNY, Buffalo
• Elmira College
• Neumann
• Plattsburgh State
• Utica College, NY

Past ECAC Alliance Champions:

• 2000 Middlebury College (defeated Colgate)
• 1999 Middlebury College
• 1998 Middlebury College
• 1997 Middlebury College
• 1996 Middlebury College (defeated RIT 5-0)

Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Division III

The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) was started during the 1998-99 season. The MIAC website can be found at www.stkate.edu/miac/whockey.html. Here is an article that outlines the new MIAC league.

• Augsburg College, Minneapolis
• Bethel
• Concordia College, Moorhead
• Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter
• Hamline University (club)
• College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph
• College of St. Catherine, St. Paul
• St. Mary's University, Winona
• St. Olaf College, Northfield
• University of St. Thomas, St. Paul

Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) Division III

• Lake Forest College, Waukegan, IL
• University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
• University of Wisconsin-River Falls
• University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
• University of Wisconsin-Superior, WI

Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association (CCWHA)

The CCWHA is made up of club teams from Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The championship for the CCWHA took place at Michigan State on the weekend of February 21-23, 1997. Ohio State University claimed the 1997 CCWHA Championship.

• Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH
• University of Illinois, IL (B Team)
• University of Western Michigan, Kalamazoo, MI

Women's Collegiate Club Championship

The 1998 US Collegiate Club Championship was held in Lake Placid, NY. CCHA representative (Western Michigan University) won, going undefeated. In attendance as representatives of their respective alliances were, Mid-West Alliance rep St. Cloud State (Minn.), NCCC (North Country Comm College), and the ECAC club rep the Univ. of Mass. Tim Garish, Director of the Lake Placid facility, hosted the championship, and said he would host again in 1999.

Ohio State University hosted the 1997 Women's Collegiate Club Championship. Their goal was to have two teams from the east coast, two teams from the CCWHA (Central Collegiate Womens Hockey Associtation), the Ohio State team, and two teams from the west. The championship was organised by Jen Bradbury (bradbury.5@osu.edu).

Past CCWHA Champions:

• 1998 Western Michigan University (Lake Placid, NY)
• 1997 Ohio State University (Troy, NY)

Midwestern Collegiate Women's Hockey Alliance (MCWHA)

The Midwestern Collegiate Women's Hockey Alliance started in the 1996-97 season. The league consists of teams from Minnesota (10), Wisconsin (4), Iowa (1). Mankato State (now called Minnesota State University) won the 1998 Midwest Alliance Championship.

"The University of Minnesota hopes to pick its first varsity coach in October. The new coach will spend this season recruiting, scheduling and helping with the planning of the new rink. Minnesota's varsity will play its first games in Mariucci in 1997. They hope to be in their new "mini-Mariucci" in 1998. This season the Minnesota club team will play in the All-American tourney and the new Midwest Alliance."
-- from USA Today Sports, September 1996

MCWHA Teams:

Minnesota

• Carleton College, Northfield (see this page too)
• University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis (club)

Wisconsin

• University of Wisconsin-Madison (club)

A note from Richard Hungerford (rhun@angelfire.com):
"This season the league will have one varsity program at Augsburg while the other teams will be club programs. The MCWHA joins the varsity ECAC League and Alliance to make three college leagues now available to women. A post season tournament between the ECAC Alliance and the Midwest Alliance may be the next step as women's hockey progresses towards a national championship."

Past MCWHA Champions:

• 1998 Mankato State (now called Minnesota State University)
• 1997 Augsburg College

Midwestern Collegiate Women's Hockey Alliance (MCWHA)

The Mid-Atlantic Women's Collegiate Hockey Association is a club league. The MAWCHA features teams from: Buffalo SUNY, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, Maryland, and America University. Dave Retone, icepanthers@hotmail.com, is the current contact for Pittsburgh and the conference.

• American University
• University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
• Rutgers
• Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

American College Hockey Association (ACHA)

The ACHA began as a men's collegiate club hockey league in 1992, and quickly grew to a league of over 150 teams in three men's divisions. The Women's Division will be initially modeled after the Men's Division II format and will hopefully expand into multiple women's divisions as women's hockey continues to grow.

The ACHA developed a women's division which started in the 2000-2001 season. Rules, regulations and eligibility requirements were mapped out at the ACHA Annual Meeting in Naples FLA, April 29 & 30, 2000 during the American Hockey Coaches Convention. The women's division will include a national championship each year for women's club teams in the United States. A polling system will be developed to rank each team, which will decide the top teams to compete for the national title.

A web site has been developed to post all results, news and information relevant to the division. The site is at: http://www.achahockey.org/.

We hope that the inclusion under a nationally recognized association will not only allow for a national championship for women's club teams, but will also legitimize the organization and development of women's club ice hockey at the university level. ACHA also lends credibility to its programs through national sponsorships, promotion and adherence to certain eligibility standards for its student-athletes.

Misc:

• Mount Holyoke College
• North Country Community College
• Ohio State University Buckeyes
• University of Delaware
• University of Virginia

Central Teams:

• Lindenwood University
• Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
• Northern Michigan University
• University of Notre Dame
• Robert Morris College
• University of Western Michigan

East Teams:

• American University
• Bates College, Lewiston, ME
• Boston University, Boston, MA
• University of Buffalo (see also)
• Drexel University
• Liberty University
• University of Maryland
• University of Massachusetts - Amherst
• Penn State University, State College, PA ( see also)
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Rhode Island

West Teams:

• University of Arizona
• University of Colorado
• Iowa State University, Ames
• University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
• Minnesota State University - Mankato
• St. Cloud State University
• West Los Angeles College
• University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
• University of Wisconsin-Madison

Other US Clubs Teams

The Clarkson University Women's Hockey Club hosted the 1998 AWCHA All-East Club Championship on February 27, 28, and March 1 1998 in Potsdam, NY. There wassn't a 1998 Women's Collegiate Club Championship.

MIT hosted the first club championship for the 1996-97 season. Please visit the 1997 AWCHA All-East Club Championship page for more information. Here is some older information from Jill Depto about the 1997 championship. And here is a quote from USA Today about the 1997 championship:

"The MIT Women's Ice Hockey Club team is organizing the 1997 AWCHA Women's National Collegiate Club Championship. The tournament is tentatively scheduled to take place at Johnson Rink at MIT (Cambridge, Mass) the weekend of March 6-9, 1997. The championship will have an A and B division to accommodate differing levels of play. Some schools will be sending teams in both divisions which indicates the increasing level of participation in the women's college game."
-- from USA Today Sports, September 1996

Here is a link for the 1995 AWCHA Championship tournament that was held in Troy, NY.

Past AWCHA Champions:

• 1997 North Country Community College
• 1996 North Country Community College (in Columbus, Ohio)
• 1995 Ohio State University (in Troy, NY)
• 1994 RPI (at Rensselaer)
• 1992 Boston College

Past Club Championship Details:

• Results of 2000-2001 National Club Championship.
• TBA won the 1998 All-East Club Championship (held at Clarkson).
• North Country Community College won the 1997 All-East Club Championship (held at MIT). They defeated Connecticut College by a score of 11-0.
• North Country Community College won the 1997 Women's Collegiate Club Championships hosted by the Ohio State University (in Columbus, Ohio). They defeated Ohio State University by a score of 6-2 in the final round.
• The 1995 Collegiate Club Championship was held in Troy, New York, and was won by Ohio State University.
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (now an ECAC Alliance Varsity program) hosted the 1994 Collegiate Club Championship, which was won by RPI.
• Boston College won the 1992 Collegiate Club Championship, by defeating the University of Maine.

East Teams:

• University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
• U-Mass Lowell, Lowell, MA
• Mount Holyoke College, S. Hadley, MA
• North County Community, Saranac Lake, NY
• Norwich University, Northfield, VT
• University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
• Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
• Smith College, Northampton, MA
• William Smith College, Geneva, NY

West Teams:

• University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, CO (new page)
• Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO
• University of Denver Club, Denver, CO
• University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL (white team) ( see this page too)
• Michigan Tech University, Houghton, MI
• Washington State University, WA
• University of Washington (Seattle) Club (new in 2021)
• West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV (team no longer exists for 96/97)

• University of Florida

New Club/Varsity Teams

More recent news is listed first.

• The University of Washington at Seattle started a brand new team in 2021, and hope to eventually enter the ACHA.
• Chicago based Robert Morris College, a private, independent accredited college, is pleased to announce the formation of an ACHA Eagles women's hockey team for the 2003-04 season.
• Clarkson University has announced that they plan to establish a Division I Women's Hockey Team. They will start competing in Division in the 2003-2004 season.
• North Dakota is coming into play in the 2002-2003 season.
• This 2002-2003 season is seeing a lot of changes in women's hockey in the DC / Delaware area and I thought you should know. The American University Lady Eagles are now members of the newly formed women's division of the DVCHC (Delaware Valley College Hockey Conference). The league is part of the ACHA and includes American U., U. of Maryland, U. of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and Penn State. Rutgers and UVA have expressed interest in joining but probably won't make the cut-off for this year.
• American University started a hockey team at the club level during the 2000-01 season. They moved to the Mid-Atlantic Women's Hockey League for the 2001-02 season.
• North Dakota is coming into play in the 2002 season.
• UMass-Boston will start a Division III Women's Ice Hockey program in 2002-2003. The Beacons are currently seeking a head coach and look forward to joining the ECAC in the future.
• North Dakota plans to field a Division I Women's Ice Hockey team starting in 2002-2003. UNH plans to seek membership in the WCHA league the following year. The Fighting Sioux will hire a coach early next year to start recruiting.
• April 2001: Athletic Director Gary Strickler stated that BU will be starting a varsity women's program in the next several years and will support it with a full complement of scholarships. No timetable was given, but it is likely that this will occur when the new arena is completed.
• Starting in the 2001-2002 season, Elmira College in Elmira, New York will have a full varsity program, competing in the ECAC. They are currently looking to hire an assistant coach.
• Utica College has added a Division III women's varsity ice hockey team for the 2001-2002 season
• The UConn Huskies will be starting a varsity DI women's ice hockey team in 2000-2001. The University of Connecticut are currently looking for a head coach. The new squad from Storrs will have athletic scholarships starting this fall, and will have the full 18 scholarships phased in by the 2002-2003 season. UConn might join the ECAC DI league in the future, or be in a new women's DI varsity league, to be formed. (Thanks to rhun for this update.)
• Quinnipiac University in CT will begin to play a varsity schedule, beginning in the 2000-2001 academic year.
• Saint Michael's College in Colchester, VT will be starting an independent DIII varsity program in the 2000-2001 season. Chris Donavan will lead the Vermont-based team. The Purple Knights look forward to joining the ECAC DIII league in the future.
• Plattsburgh State will start a women's club ice hockey program in the 2000-2001 season. They plan to upgrade to a DIII varsity team in 2001-2002.
• The UConn Huskies will be starting a varsity DI Women's Ice Hockey team in 2000-2001. The University of Connecticut will be advertising for a head coach soon. No decision has been made, for the new squad from Storrs, on athletic schlarships.
• The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point will be going varsity for the 2000-2001 season. They'll be starting a DIII varsity team.
• The University of North Dakota plans to start a DI varsity Women's Ice Hockey program for the 2001-2002 season. The Fighting Sioux currently have a club side. They hope to have a full-time coach next season to start recruiting. UND will have 18 athletic scholarships available. Look for North Dakota to eventually join the WCHA.
• Hamline is going D3 varsity in 2000-2001. QC is going D1 varsity in 2000-2001.
• Lake Forest College has announced that their women's ice hockey team will become a varsity sport in 2000-2001. The Foresters have competed as a club side for 12 years and will be led by new head coach TR Bell as they move to Division III status.
• Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA is going to offer Womens Hockey next year (1999-2000). They are looking for a coach for this team.
• Manhattanville College, in Purchase, NY, will be adding a DIII Independent women's ice hockey team in the fall of 1999. The Valiants (some form of knight errant) will be coached by Rick Seeley.
• Wayne State University will have a DI Independent varsity program for the 1999-2000 season. Currently they are close to signing a head coach. Perhaps they will beat out Michigan and Michigan State and become the first Michigan school in the WCHA!
• The State University of New York at Cortland will resume varsity women's hockey in the 2000-01 season. SUNY-Corltand featured women's hockey as a varsity sport from 1977-82, compiling a 44-24-3 record in that time as an independent. The new team will, as before, compete in NCAA Division III. Cortland hopes to find a women's ice hockey head coach by the end of May.
• Wayne State University has announced plans to add both men's and women's hockey as part of an overall upgrade in the school's athletic department. Under the proposal put forth by unversity president Irvin Reid, WSU's entire sports program would move up to Division I from its current Division II membership.
• The University of Pittsburgh now has a women's ice hockey team and because we are not yet "established" as far a falling under University of NCAA guidelines we are using this oppotunity to allow all collegiate women in the area to practice and scrimage with us as part of the team. We feel that this will give other schools in the area incentive to start thier own programs.
• My name is Karianne Paolo and I have just started a new Club Women's Ice Hockey Team at The State University of New York at Buffalo. It was started in Feb 1998. I can be contacted at paolo@eng.buffalo.edu, or see the team's web site.
• The University of Findlay plans to elevate its three-year-old men's hockey team to Division I, and to add a D-I women's program for the 1999-2000 season, the school announced Wednesday. The women's team is hoping for membership in the Central Collegiate Women's Hockey Association, although that league is primarily composed of club teams. Both hockey teams will compete in the Clauss Ice Arena, which is slated for completion in early 1999.
• St Cloud State's Women's team will be a varsity team this coming year (1998-99) in transition to a full varsity DI program, with scholarships in another year. For 1998-99 they will play some DI schools and some DIII and club squads.

  This is great news as women's college hockey now has 40 varsity teams. The Midwest now has Minnesota, Bemidji State, Mankato State (now called Minnesota State University), and St Cloud State as Division I teams. In 1999-2000 another group of schools plan to be DI varsity sides: Minnesota-Duluth, Ohio State, Wisconsin and probably Michigan. That could make for a nice 8 team DI Midwest league, with an imbedded Big Ten league no less!

• Holy Cross will have varsity status, starting in the 1999-2000 hockey season.
• Mitzi Witchger's list of which colleges will have women's varsity hockey teams from 1997 to 2001.
• Concordia College will be a club team for 1998-99 and varsity team for 1999-00.
• The MIAC league for women's college hockey has been officially approved, and will be starting up for the 1998-99 season.
• Bemidji State in Minnesota announced that the varsity women's team has limited play planned for the 1998-99 season and will develop a full schedule for the 1999-2000 season.
• Hamline University will be starting a women's hockey program in 2000-2001.
• St Cloud State University and University of River Falls - Wisconsin both stated that they will begin women's hockey programs in 1999.
• The University of Wisconsin-River Falls will upgrage it's women's hockey club program to varsity status for the 1999-2000 hockey season.
• Concordia College in Moorhead, MN announced that it will add women's hockey as a varsity sport for 1999-2000. Concordia is a member of the MIAC.
• The University of Wisconsin - Madison will add a varsity team, starting in the 1999-2000 season.
• The University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, has decided to start a women's hockey program in the fall of 1998. Tom Osiecki has been selected as head coach. He has coached at Burnsville High School, from 1966-90 with the boy's program, and from 1995-97 he coached the girl's hockey program.
• Hockey is a club sport at Washington State University, and we are looking forward to starting a womens varsity team soon. They won't be a starting a team for the 1998-99 season.
• Division III Buffalo State College in Buffalo, New York, will start playing in the 1999-2000 season. They want to get a coach in place this year. The coach will recruit a team for the following season.
• Union College just declared Division Varsity for the fall of 1998, or the 1999-2000 season at the latest. Their coach is to be hired by July 1998.
• As far as women's teams going varsity, there is a 95% chance that women's hockey, along with men's soccer, will be going varsity at the Unviersity of Michigan for the 1999-2000 season. This was discussed at an athletic department meeting a couple months ago, and they voted to go ahead with it, but it's pending the approval of another committee. Apparantly, though, the second committe is little more than a rubber stamp, and it's almost definately going to happen.
• "Women's ice hockey will achieve varsity status at the University of Minnesota-Duluth by the fall of 1999, chancellor Kathryn A. Martin announced Wednesday (Sept. 10). The program, to be placed in NCAA Division I, will compete at the club level for the next two seasons. A head coach is expected to be hired within a year. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Martin said, "Adding women's hockey will give women athletes at UMD an opportunity to compete at the varsity level in the fastest growing sport in Minnesota." A women's team at Minnesota's Twin Cities campus begins varsity play this year." - Minnesota-Duluth Adds Women's Ice Hockey, Sept 11, 97
  Candidates for the UMD coaching job have been narrow down to Julie Healy and Shannon Miller.
• The University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point is a solid club team that will be a fine addition to the MCWHA league next year (1998-99 season) as a full-time member.
• Bemidji State (Bemidji, Minnesota) just declared varsity status for the 1999-2000 season as a Division II School.
• UW-Superior (Northern Wisconsin) has declared Varsity status for the 1998-99 season and are inches away from hiring a new coach. Division III school. Update: They have just hired Tracy Majeske has head coach! They have a web page for the team here.
• Manhattanville College (Purchase, NY) just announced in the NCAA On-Line that they are going in 1998-99 at the Division III level and are looking for a coach.
• In June 1997, Mankato State (now called Minnesota State University) announced that the women's hockey team will have varsity status beginning in the 1998-99 season.
• The University of Vermont has applied for varsity status and hopes for the same success as the University of Maine-Orono which has been granted varsity status for the 1997-98 season. The University of Southern Maine will go varsity in 1998-99. Ohio State University has announced that their women's ice hockey team will be varsity in the 1999-2000 season.
• Beginning in the fall of 1997, Gustavus Adolphus College, in St. Peter, MN (a member of the MCWHA) will become a varsity sport. This brings the total number of teams in Minnesota with a varsity status to 3. The other two are Augsburg College and the University of Minnesota. St. Mary's University in Minnesota is planning to go varsity in the 1998-99 season.
• The University of Florida is starting a women's ice hockey club team to begin play in the fall of 1997. They are looking for teams to play against, preferably from the South, but they don't mind traveling. Please contact Lisa Limper (lisal@atlantic.net) to arrange a game.
• In Jaunary 1997, Colgate University was granted varsity status by the university. Here is some more information.
• The University of Southern Maine (USM) has added a new Women's ice hockey team for the 1997-98 season. The plan is to go varsity for the 1998-99 season and apply to join the ECAC Alliance the same year. A new arena is being built on campus and will be completed in September of 1997. Please see the college hockey directory for contact information.
• The ECAC has announced three new women's programs to begin play. The ECAC Alliance will add Connecticut College in 1997-98, followed by Bates (ME) and Sacred Heart (CT) in 1998-99.
• Iowa State University started a club in the 1995-1996 season. They are looking to schedule games with anyone who can travel to Ames, IA. They will travel within 5 to 6 hours at the most at this time. Due to it being a new club, travel funds are very hard to come by this year, so if you can come to Ames to play them it would be great. Contact Christine Birney at cbirney@iastate.edu.
• Chatham College in Pittsburgh, who started a club hockey team in the 1996-97 season, will be going varsity (Div III) in the 1997-98 season. More information can be obtained from assistant coach Susan Helene Gottfried. - new for the 1996-97 season.
• Clarkson University - new club team for the 1995-96 season.
• Mount Holyoke College - new for the 1996-97 season.
• Niagara University - new for the 1996-97 season.

  Here is some information about Niagara University that was provided by Don Page (dpage@inferno.fhci.edu.on.ca) on June 5, 1996:
  "A new program is to commence at Niagara University for women's ice hockey. The plan is for a club team to start up in the fall of 1997 and for the team to join the NCAA Division 1 ranks in 1998 (becoming a varsity sport in the fall of 1998). The university has given signs of making a very legitimate move to developing a quality program. A new twin ice surface facility has just been completed. The men's program has just started up and the women's program is to follow immediately behind. It seems unusual for the facility to be completed prior to the teams being established but they have constructed a very nice facility with two Olympic size ice surfaces right on campus. The administration is hoping to finalize the coaching position by the end of June 1996."

• Union College - new for the 1995-96 season.

1995-96 ECAC Season

Here is some information that was provided by Richard Hungerford (rhun@angelfire.com) (Sept 95) about the ECAC league organisation for the 1995-96 season:

In the 1995-96 season, in the ECAC League 12 teams will not be playing each other twice, but "one and a half times". Meaning 16 games will count in the league. The result is the league is broken into two pods: (Brown, PC, UNH, Colby, Princeton, Yale) and (Northeastern, Harvard, Dartmouth, BC, Cornell St. Lawrence). I know which pod I'd prefer to have the extra game against! The problem of playing home and home games (22 games count) is that many ECAC teams already have commitments to tournaments. So they plan to phase in the 22 games counting over the next couple of years. I thought they might come to that as the schools were going to have to come up with several more weekends of ice time.

News Tidbits

• April 29, 1999
  In an historic vote, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association established a new women's league at its 1999 annual meeting in Marco Island, Florida. The unanimous vote followed a year-long planning process.
  
  
• September 29, 1997
  Rick Filighera was introduced today as the coach of UMaine's new varsity women's ice hockey team. He has been the head coach of the women's ice hockey team at Rochester Institute of Technology for the last two years. The team begins its first season as a varsity program on Nov. 1 with a 1 p.m. game against Sacred Heart at Alfond Arena.
  
  
• September 11, 1997 - U.S. College Hockey Online
  Women's ice hockey will achieve varsity status at the University of Minnesota-Duluth by fall 1999, chancellor Kathryn A. Martin announced Wednesday (Sept. 10). The program, to be placed in NCAA Division I, will compete at the club level for the next two seasons. A head coach is expected to be hired within a year. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Martin said, "Adding women's hockey will give women athletes at UMD an opportunity to compete at the varsity level in the fastest growing sport in Minnesota." A women's team at Minnesota's Twin Cities campus begins varsity play this year.
  
  

Will there be an NCAA for women's hockey soon?

This information was provided by Richard Hungerford (rhun@angelfire.com) on May 1st, 1998:

It appears that women's ice hockey has reached 40 varsity teams today. Vermont upgraded its ECAC Alliance club side to a varsity squad today with Dennis Miller continuing as coach.

In recent weeks, Bemidji State became an independent DI varsity side and St. Thomas became a DIII varsity in the new MIAC league.

The result is:
ECAC League: 14 DI varsity sides
ECAC Alliance: 15 DIII varsity sides (only Bates will be a club)
Minnesota Intercollegiate: 6 DIII varsity sides
Independent DI varsities: 3 - Minnesota, Mankato State, Bemidji State
Independent DIII varsities: 2 - Chatham, Wisconsin-Superior

Add that all up and you have the 40 varsity teams we need for an NC$$ National Title!

Get the red flags ready as May Day is upon us!!!

Other Misc. Links for Universities

These pages are general pages for these universities, not specific information about women's hockey.

• Bates College
• Buffalo State College
• Chatham College (PA)
• Colgate College
• Hamline College
• University of Maine
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• University of Minnesota-Duluth
• University of New Hampshire
• St. Cloud State University
• St. Olaf College, Northfield
• Union College, Schenectady, NY
• University of Vermont
• University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Women's Hockey Web - Quick Index
Main Index: General Info International Country | University Player Profiles Hockey Cards Links | FAQ Resources: Tournaments Hockey Schools	Women's Hockey Web	Andria's Homepage	Hockey Tips: Shooting | Skating Playing Other Women's Sports: Inline Hockey Roller Hockey Ball Hockey Broomball Ringette

URL:  http://www.whockey.com/univ/usa/index.html