AMESBURY, Mass. The UConn Huskies (27-8-2/17-6-1 HE) and Northeastern Huskies (28-8-1/21-2-1 HE) have each earned bids into the Women’s Ice Hockey National Collegiate Tournament, marking the first time Hockey East has earned two multiple bids in a full-length regular season since 2018-19. UConn is making its second appearance in the NC Tournament after winning the 2026 Hockey East Tournament while Northeastern has earned its seventh bid.
The 2026 national tournament field will again feature 11 teams and has seeded the top five programs. Those seeded teams include top overall seed and WCHA champion Ohio State, defending national champion No. 2 Wisconsin Atlantic Hockey America champion No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Minnesota, and No. 5 Northeastern, who all advance automatically to the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 14.
Rounding out the field is Hockey East champion UConn, ECAC champion Quinnipiac, Yale, Princeton, Minnesota Duluth, and NEWHA champion Franklin Pierce.
No. 5 Northeastern will travel to play No. 4 Minnesota on Saturday, March 14 at 3:00 p.m. for a berth into the Frozen Four. UConn will square off with Princeton (23-10-0) on Thursday, March 12 at 7:00 p.m. The winner will advance to face No. 3 Penn State (32-5-0) on Saturday, March 14 at 2:00 p.m. All games will be available on the Watch ESPN App.
Five teams received their automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments, while the remaining six at-large bids were selected by the women’s ice hockey committee. The NC women’s ice hockey championship is a single-elimination tournament. The top four overall seeds serve as the host sites for the regionals.
Wisconsin is the defending national champion after defeating Ohio State, 4-3, in overtime in 2025. It marked the third-straight year that the Badgers and Buckeyes met in the national championship game. Below is the complete history of the NC women’s hockey championship.
The 2026 National Collegiate Tournament games begin on Thursday, March 12 at regional sites with quarterfinal action taking place on March 14. The Frozen Four will be hosted by Penn State at Pegula Ice Arena, with the semifinals on Friday, March 20 and the national title game on Sunday, March 22. Tickets are on sale now.
Both Frozen Four semifinal games will be streamed live on ESPN+ on Friday, March 20. The first semifinal game will begin at 4:00 p.m. ET and the second drops the puck at 7:30 p.m. ET The national championship game will take place at 4:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 22 on ESPNU.
