Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Women’s Notes: 2026 Women’s NCAA Tournament

Field Features Star Power, Record-Breakers, Olympians

Eleven teams remain alive in the quest for a national championship, and it all begins Thursday with a trio of first-round regional matchups.

NCAA Tournament Bracket

The four winners from each regional bracket will advance to the 2026 NCAA Frozen Four on March 20 and 22 at Penn State University’s Pegula Arena.

The entire NCAA Tournament, including Thursday and Saturday’s regional games, will be streamed on the ESPN app in the United States and TSN+ in Canada. The Frozen Four semifinals will be broadcast on ESPN+, with the national championship game airing on ESPNU.

To see more information on the 2025-26 NCAA tournament participating teams, tournament history and general NCAA DI women’s hockey information see below:

Women’s NCAA Tournament Media Kit (.pdf)
Women’s NCAA Tournament Pronunciation Guide (.pdf)

Conference Champions:
AHA – Penn State
ECAC Hockey – Quinnipiac
Hockey East – UConn
NEWHA – Franklin Pierce
WCHA – Ohio State

Daily Scoreboard | National Schedule | Scoring Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

Must Read:

Franklin Pierce: Ravens Set to Play Against Quinnipiac in the 2026 NC Women’s Championship

Minnesota: Gophers Grab No. 4 Overall Seed in NCAA Tournament

Minnesota Duluth: Bulldogs Make it Six-Straight NCAA Tournament Appearances, will Face Yale

Northeastern: No. 5 Huskies Claim Five Seed in NCAA Tournament

Ohio State: Buckeyes No. 1 Seed in 2026 NCAA Tournament, Host Regional Round

Penn State: Women’s Ice Hockey Selected as No. 3 Seed in 2026 NC Women’s Championship

Princeton: Women’s Hockey to Meet UConn in NCAA First Round

Quinnipiac: No. 7/8 Quinnipiac Earns NCAA Tournament Bid, Heads to Madison

UConn: UConn Selected to Penn State Regional

Wisconsin: Badgers earn No. 2 seed in NCAA Tournament

Yale: Bulldogs Earn NCAA Tournament Bid, Will Face Minnesota Duluth in Regional Semifinals

NHL: Coyne Schofield says post-Olympic rise of women’s hockey ‘different’ this time

NHL: Ducks celebrate Women in Sports Night to cap weekend festivities

NHL: NHL, NHLPA celebrate International Women’s Day with investments in girls’ programs

The Hockey News: Grace Outwater Is Proving She Belongs Among College Hockey’s Elite

The Hockey News: Union Captain Stephanie Bourque Aiming To Become Program’s First PWHL Player

The Hockey News: NCAA Division III Women’s Hockey Tournament Opens This Weekend

The Hockey News: Behind Penn State’s Firepower, Katie DeSa Has Been Their Rock

The Hockey News: NCAA Tournament Bracket Unveiled With Ohio State Entering As The #1 Seed

The Hockey News: Quinnipiac Wins ECAC Championship With Dominant Performance

The Hockey News: Chan’s 57-Save Performance Lifts UConn To Hockey East Title In Double Overtime

The Hockey News: Penn State Wins Fourth Straight Atlantic Hockey America Title Punching Ticket

The Hockey News: Ohio State Upsets #1 Wisconsin To Win The 2026 WCHA Championship

The Hockey News: Minnesota’s Kaiser Hopes To Make An Impact, Beginning With The 2026 PWHL Draft

The IX Sports: Three Hockey East players with rising stock for the PWHL Draft

The IX Sports: Who won the five NCAA conference championships

The IX Sports: Quinnipiac notches program’s second ECAC title, first in 10 years

The NE Journal: All-tournament team after Phillips Exeter’s Large School win over Choate

The PWHL: Weekly Notebook: Mar. 9, 2026

USCHO: Women’s Hockey Weekend Wrap – March 9, 2026

USCHO: Bracket unveiled for 2026 NCAA National Collegiate women’s hockey tournament

USCHO: WCHA Championship – No. 2 Ohio State 2, No. 1 Wisconsin 1

Must Hear & See:

Breaking the Glass: Episode #33: Northeastern Husky Brigitte Aube

ECAC Hockey: Quinnipiac’s Mia Lopata | Full Interview (ECAC Hockey Women’s Championship weekend)

Our Girls Play Hockey: Pro Hockey Secrets for Young Players | Mailbag with Hayley Scamurra

Rinkside Rundown: From Outdoor Rinks to Penn State: Grace Outwater’s Hockey Journey

USCHO: 11 teams left, 10 games to go: Looking ahead to the NCAA women’s hockey tournament

Tale of the Tape:

This year’s 11-team field boasts a combined 91 NCAA Tournament appearances (incl. this season):

NCAA Tournament Appearances:
Minnesota – 23
Wisconsin – 20
Minnesota Duluth – 17
Northeastern – 8
Ohio State – 8
Princeton – 5
Penn State – 4
Yale – 3
UConn – 2
Franklin Pierce – 1

Patty Kaz – 10 for 10:

All 10 finalists for the 2026 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award will take part in the NCAA tournament starting Thursday. Here’s a look at the finalists including the top-3 (bolded):

Tia Chan — Goaltender, graduate student, University of Connecticut, Hamilton, Ont.
Joy Dunne — Forward, junior, Ohio State University, O’Fallon, Mo.
Lacey Eden — Forward, fifth-year, University of Wisconsin, Annapolis, Md.
Laila Edwards — Defense/forward, senior, University of Wisconsin, Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Caroline Harvey — Defense, senior, University of Wisconsin, Salem, N.H.
Tessa Janecke — Forward, senior, Penn State University, Orangeville, Ill.
Kahlen Lamarche — Forward, junior, Quinnipiac University, Sudbury, Ont.
Abbey Murphy — Forward, graduate student, University of Minnesota, Evergreen Park, Ill.
Kirsten Simms — Forward, senior, University of Wisconsin, Plymouth, Mich.
Issy Wunder — Forward, senior, Princeton University, Toronto, Ont.

The 29th winner of the award will be announced during the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four and broadcast live on NHL Network.

Special Time for Special Teams:

The Wisconsin Badgers lead the tournament field in both power play and penalty kill, converting 34.7% on the PP and 90.1% on the PK. Here’s how the rest of the field stacks up on special teams:

Team	PP:	PK:
Franklin Pierce	18.3%	89.0%
Minnesota	26.0%	80.6%
Minnesota Duluth	11.9%	83.2%
Northeastern	19.5%	89.8%
Ohio State	28.5%	85.9%
Penn State	25.6%	84.8%
Princeton	18.4%	85.4%
Quinnipiac	16.8%	88.4%
UConn	27.3%	81.6%
Wisconsin	34.7%	90.1%
Yale	29.0%	85.7%

NCAA DIII Postseason:

The women’s Division III tournament field and bracket were revealed Sunday, March 8, in a live selection show on NCAA.com. UW-River Falls enters as the back-to-back defending champion after defeating Amherst 3-1 in the 2025 title game. The Falcons kept the No. 1 seed this season with a 27-1 record.

The 2026 Division III women’s hockey championship begins with the first round Saturday, March 14, and concludes with the final Sunday, March 29.

That’s So Raven:

The Franklin Pierce Ravens captured the 2026 NEWHA Tournament title with a 2-0 shutout victory over Saint Anselm on Saturday. It marked the Ravens’ second NEWHA title (2022) and the first since the conference received an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament.

Senior goaltender Jill Hertl (Highland Park, Ill.) backstopped the win with 41 saves, earning her 19th career shutout and NEWHA Most Outstanding Player honors in the championship game. Sophomore forward Bo Dean (Toronto, Ontario) opened the scoring early in the first period, while freshman forward Abigail Broz (Hugo, Minn.) sealed the win with a late breakaway goal.

Franklin Pierce will face Quinnipiac at LaBahn Arena in Madison, Wis., on March 12 at 8 p.m. ET in the regional semifinals. The winner will advance to face Wisconsin on Saturday, March 14 at 2 p.m. ET.

Momentum Check:

Every hockey player knows a hot goaltender, late season run, or overcoming adversity can provide crucial momentum in the postseason. Here’s a look at the field’s last 10 games entering the tournament:

Franklin Pierce – 9-1-0
Ohio State – 9-1-0
Penn State – 9-1-0
Northeastern – 8-2-0
Wisconsin – 8-2-0
Yale – 8-2-0
Quinnipiac – 7-2-1
Minnesota Duluth – 7-3-0
UConn – 7-3-0
Princeton – 6-4-0
Minnesota – 3-6-1

PWHL Note:

Minnesota Frost’s Taylor Heise (Minnesota ’23) leads the PWHL in scoring with 19 points in 17 games. The Olympic gold medalist from Lake City, MN, had a goal and two assists in the Frost’s 3-2 overtime win against the Sceptres, marking her second three-point game in two outings in Toronto this season.

The former Patty Kaz winner also tops the league with 15 assists and has 13 of her 19 points in her last eight games.

Ottawa’s Rebecca Leslie (Boston University ’18) and Brianne Jenner (Cornell ‘15), along with Minnesota’s Britta Curl-Salemme (Wisconsin ’24), are tied for second with 17 points, while New York’s Casey O’Brien (Wisconsin ’25) leads rookies and Boston’s Megan Keller (Boston College ’19) leads defenders.

The Boston Fleet set a team record with their sixth straight win, defeating the Goldeneyes 2-1 in overtime Tuesday. The victory moves Boston into sole possession of first place.

Notebook Quotebook:

“For me, it’s our comeback. Like last year, we lost in the quarterfinal rounds. Personally, I didn’t get to play at all, I was out with concussions, and I’m super thrilled and just honored to be able to play this game again. I didn’t really know if that was going to be, there was a chance of me coming back. Courtney has just done an incredible job of turning our program around and it feels like we are a new program.”

— Princeton junior goaltender Uma Corniea (Edina, Minn.) commented on both the team’s and her personal comeback and the influence that new head coach Courtney Kessel (New Hampshire ’11) has already had on the program (source: ECAC Hockey).

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

Princeton has 23 wins this season, the second-most in program history, trailing only the 2020 team, which finished with 26 … Franklin Pierce sophomore forward Caleigh Murphy (Belle Harbor, N.Y.) earned player of the month after recording 14 points in February … Senior defender Emma Peschel (Edina, Minn.) led Ohio State with two primary assists in the Buckeyes’ win over Wisconsin to claim its third WCHA Final Faceoff title … Penn State won its fourth consecutive AHA title, securing the Nittany Lions’ 32nd win of the season, a program single-season record … Quinnipiac sophomore netminder Felicia Frank (Gävle, Sweden) earned her 27th win of the season and 34th of her career, while sophomore forward Avery Bairos (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) recorded her first career postseason goal … UConn graduate goalie Tia Chan (Hamilton, Ontario) made a career-high 57 saves against Northeastern to help the Huskies capture the Hockey East championship … Minnesota Duluth and Yale will face off Thursday, marking the first meeting between the two programs in history … senior forward Sloane Matthews (Plymouth, Minn.) tallied her 100^th career point on Thursday against Minnesota.

Longest Active Team Winning Streaks:

8 games, Ohio State (began Feb. 13, 2026)
4 games, Frankling Pierce (began Feb. 27, 2026)
4 games, UConn (began Feb. 21, 2026)
4 games, Penn State (began Feb. 14, 2026)

Longest Active Goalie Winning Streaks:

8 games, Hailey MacLeod, Ohio State (began Feb. 13, 2026)
8 games, Jill Hertl, Franklin Pierce (began Feb. 6, 2026)

Longest Active Point Streaks:

11 games, Tessa Janecke, Penn State
- 12G, 5A (began Jan. 3, 2026)
11 games, Caleigh Murphy, Franklin Pierce
- 8G, 10A (began Jan. 31, 2026)
8 games, Abigail Broz, Franklin Pierce
- 4G, 9A (began Feb. 13, 2026)
8 games, Jyla Josifovic, UConn
- 3G, 8A (began Feb. 7, 2026)
8 games, Claire Murdoch, UConn
- 5G, 12A (began Feb. 7, 2026)
7 games, Hailey Anderson, Franklin Pierce
- 4G, 4A (began Feb. 14, 2026)

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

3 games, Kyla Josifovic, UConn (began Feb. 28, 2026)
3 games, Abigail Broz, Franklin Pierce (began Feb. 28, 2026)

Conference Websites

Atlantic Hockey America | ECAC Hockey | Hockey East | NEWHA | WCHA

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

Did you know? 97% of NCAA Division I women’s hockey players earn their degree