AMESBURY, Mass. - Northeastern University, the six-time defending Hockey East Tournament champion, has earned its sixth consecutive bid into the National Collegiate Women’s Ice Hockey Championship. The Huskies were granted the number five overall seed.
The 2023 field, expanded to 11 teams for just the second time, has seeded the top five teams and is rounded out by top overall seed defending national champion Ohio State, WCHA champion No. 2 Minnesota, ECAC champion No. 3 Colgate, and No. 4 Yale, who all advance automatically to the quarterfinals alongside No. 5 Northeastern.
Northeastern will square off with Yale on Saturday, March 11 at 3:00 p.m.
Rounding out the field is Quinnipiac, CHA champion Penn State, Wisconsin, NEWHA champion LIU, Minnesota Duluth, and Clarkson.
The Huskies (33-2-1/24-2-1 HE) earned an automatic bid into the National Tournament after claiming the school’s sixth consecutive Hockey East Women’s Tournament title Saturday, 4-1, over Providence at home in Matthews Arena. It marks the seventh time that Northeastern has earned a berth in the National Tournament and its sixth straight trip to the national postseason after claiming Hockey East’s automatic bid in each of those seasons. The Huskies have secured a top-five seed for the fifth year in a row.
Northeastern has advanced to the Frozen Four in each of the last two seasons. In 2021, the Huskies finished as runner-up after falling in overtime to Wisconsin.
Five teams received automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments, while the remaining six at-large bids were selected by the committee. The NC women’s ice hockey championship is a single-elimination tournament. The top four overall seeds will serve as the host sites for the regionals. Those top four teams are the No. 1 seeds, and the fifth overall program is the top No. 2 seed.
The 2023 National Tournament games begin on Thursday, March 9 at regional sites. The Frozen Four will take place at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, Minn. with the semifinals on Friday, March 17 and the national title game on Sunday, March 19.
Both Frozen Four semifinal games will be streamed live on ESPN+ on, Friday, March 17. The first semifinal game will air on ESPN+ at 3:30 p.m. and the second at 7:00 p.m. The national championship game will take place at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 19 on ESPNU.
