The New England Women's Hockey Alliance is a women's collegiate hockey conference that started as an informal scheduling partnership for the 2017-18 season.
Origins of the conference[]
The Franklin Pierce Ravens, Holy Cross Crusaders, St. Anselm Hawks and St. Michael's Purple Knights all became independents for 2017-18 as a result of the New England Hockey Conference adopting a Division III only membership policy. Holy Cross is Division I in all other sports, including men's ice hockey, and the others are all Division II schools as members of the Northeast-10 Conference, which does not sponsor women's ice hockey.
The Post University Eagles, which had been playing as an Independent Division II women's ice hockey team, announced it would enter into a scheduling alliance for the 2017-18 season with the five other NCAA women's independent programs (Holy Cross Crusaders, Sacred Heart Pioneers, Franklin Pierce Ravens, St. Anselm Hawks and St. Michael's Purple Knights).
The Sacred Heart Pioneers continued to play as a Division I Independent while joining the scheduling alliance for 2017-18.
The Holy Cross Crusaders would join Hockey East for the 2018-19 season.
On September 10, 2018, the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University, known for sports purposes as LIU Brooklyn, announced that it would start a varsity women's hockey team in the 2019–20 season. Later that month on September 26, the NEWHA announced its intent to be recognized as an NCAA National Collegiate women's hockey conference.[1] This was quickly followed by LIU's announcement that it would merge its two athletic programs—the Division I LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds and Division II LIU Post Pioneers—into a single Division I athletic program that eventually became known as the LIU Sharks. The NCAA officially recognized the NEWHA upon LIU's arrival in 2019. The conference was originally intended to receive its first automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Women's Ice Hockey Championship in the 2021–22 season, but has yet to receive such.
On January 29, 2020 the conference announced it would be expanding for the 2021-22 season with the addition of the Stonehill Skyhawks who are adding women's ice hockey. Stonehill College is located in Easton, Massachusetts. The team will be based out of the Bridgewater Ice Arena in nearby Bridgewater, Massachusetts.[2] The addition of Stonehill, which will give the NEWHA seven members, was originally planned to take place in the same season in which the NEWHA is slated to receive its first automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Due to issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic the university would announce on September 11, 2020 that it would be delaying the start of its program until the 2022-23 season.[3] In April of 2020 the college announced it would be elevating all of its' athletic teams to Division I status beginning with the 2022-23 season.
At the same time Stonehill began play, Assumption University, a Division II school in Worcester, Massachusetts, joined the NEWHA for administrative purposes in advance of its first season of varsity play in 2023–24.[4]
Member Teams[]
Former Member[]
| Team | Location | Arena | Tenure | Fate |
| Holy Cross Crusaders | Worcester, Massachusetts | Hart Center | 2017-18 | Join Hockey East for 2018-19 |
Seasons[]
| Season | Regular Season Champion | Tournament Champion | NCAA Tournament |
| 2017-18 | Saint Anselm Hawks | Saint Anselm Hawks | No Automatic bid, No bids |
| 2018-19 | Saint Anselm Hawks | Saint Anselm Hawks | No Automatic bid, No bids |
| 2019-20 | Sacred Heart Pioneers | LIU Sharks | No Automatic bid, No bids |
| 2020-21 | No regular season schedule | LIU Sharks | No Automatic bid, No bids |
| 2021-22 | LIU Sharks | Franklin Pierce Ravens | No Automatic bid |
| 2022-23 | LIU Sharks | LIU Sharks | LIU - L, Fist Round 9-1 (Wisconsin) |
| 2023-24 | LIU Sharks | Stonehill Skyhawks | Stonehill - L, First Round 7-1 (Colgate) |
References[]
- ↑ https://www.uscho.com/2018/09/26/newha-announces-intent-to-be-recognized-as-ncaa-national-collegiate-womens-hockey-conference/
- ↑ https://newhaonline.com/general/2019-20/releases/20191209do1o9v
- ↑ https://www.stonehillskyhawks.com/sports/wice/2020-21/releases/20200911g35z1y
- ↑ Assumption accepts invitation to join NEWHA as its eighth member. New England Women's Hockey Alliance (June 29, 2022). Retrieved on July 16, 2022.