18th Annual Women's Hockey East Championship Weekend Begins Saturday
Hockey East Women's Championship Field Set
18th Annual Women's Hockey East Championship Weekend Begins Saturday

WAKEFIELD, MASS. - The Hockey East Association has announced the pairings for the semifinal round of the 2020 Hockey East Women's Tournament. No. 1 Northeastern and No. 7 Maine and No. 5 UConn and No. 6 New Hampshire will square off at Lawler Rink on the campus of Merrimack College on Saturday, March 7, in the 18th annual Women's Hockey East championship weekend. A full schedule and watch information can be found below.

Hockey East regular-season champion and No. 1 Northeastern (30-4-2/24-3-0 HEAW) will take on No. 7 Maine (15-13-8/9-11-7 HEAW) in the first semifinal on Saturday at 12 p.m. Northeastern looks to return to the Hockey East championship game for the fourth time in as many years and claim its third consecutive Bertagna Trophy. The Huskies have been in five championship contests in program history (2011, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019.) The Black Bears advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2018, when they fell to the Huskies at Matthews Arena, 2-1, in the only postseason meeting between the two programs. Northeastern went on to win its first Hockey East Tournament crown that year. During the regular season, Maine handed Northeastern one of just three losses for the Huskies in 2019-20, a 3-2 overtime victory on Nov. 24 in Boston. This marks just the second time the seven-seed has advanced to the semifinals after UConn did so in 2018. UConn downed top-seed Boston College that year to move on to the title game.

No. 5 UConn (18-17-2/13-12-2 HEAW) has moved onto the semifinals for the fourth time in program history, most recently in 2018 when they team advanced to the title game. The Huskies have never won the Hockey East Tournament. No. 6 New Hampshire (18-14-4/12-12-3 HEAW) returns to the semifinals for the first time since 2010. The Wildcats won four straight tournament titles from 2006-09, but have not returned to the championship game since. UConn is 3-1 against New Hampshire all-time in the Hockey East Tournament, including a 1-1 record in the semifinals. It is the first postseason meeting between the two programs since a 2016 quarterfinal series.

This is the first time in league history that two or more lower-seeded teams have advanced to the semifinals of the Hockey East Tournament. The 2018 UConn squad is the lowest seed to appear in a title game.

The 18th annual Women's Hockey East Tournament championship will take place this weekend, Saturday, March 7, and Sunday, March 8, at Merrimack College's Lawler Rink. No. 1 Northeastern will square off with No. 7 Maine on Saturday at 12 p.m., while No. UConn and No. 6 New Hampshire take the ice at 3:30 p.m. The winners advance to Sunday's championship tilt at 2 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets by contacting the Merrimack College ticketing office at (978) 837-5324 or by emailing tickets@merrimack.edu

ABOUT THE WOMEN'S HOCKEY EAST ASSOCIATION: The Women's Hockey East Association is a 10-team, Division-I college hockey conference which began play in 2002-03, with offices based in Wakefield, Mass. Member schools include Boston College, Boston University, University of Connecticut, College of the Holy Cross, University of Maine, Merrimack College, University of New Hampshire, Northeastern University, Providence College and University of Vermont. The league also sponsors an 11-team men's league which began play in 1984.