New England Women's Hockey Alliance

The New England Women's Hockey Alliance (NEWHA) is a women's college ice hockey conference in the United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. The conference is made up of six teams, with two in New Hampshire, two in Connecticut, one in Vermont, and one in New York.

New England Women's Hockey Alliance
NEWHA
Established2018
AssociationNCAA
DivisionDivision I
Members6 (7 in 2022)
Sports fielded
RegionNew England, New York
HeadquartersWinthrop, Massachusetts
CommissionerRobert M. DeGregorio, Jr. (since 2018)
Websitenewhaonline.com

History

Prior to 2017, the women's ice hockey program at Sacred Heart University was a longstanding independent team, part of no conference. In that year, three NCAA Division II colleges and one Division I college (College of the Holy Cross) were removed from their NCAA Division III hockey conference (the New England Hockey Conference, formerly the ECAC East). Those teams had previously not been eligible for postseason play, but the conference no longer wanted Division I and II teams playing a conference schedule at all. A sixth team, from Post University, announced plans to start playing that year as well.

Sacred Heart, Post, and the other four programs (Holy Cross, St. Michael's, St. Anselm, and Franklin Pierce) then formed a scheduling alliance called the New England Women's Hockey Alliance. This was not a formal conference affiliation, just an agreement among the teams to schedule each other during the regular season; officially the teams would be classified as Division I or Division II independents. (As the NCAA operates a single National Collegiate Championship for women's hockey that includes both Division I and Division II teams, the distinction between the divisions is minimal.)

Holy Cross intended to be independent only for one season, applying for and gaining membership in Hockey East effective 2018. In that year, the other NEWHA members announced plans to adhere to Division I recruiting rules and offer scholarships, and so applied to the NCAA for the NEWHA to be recognized as an official Division I conference. They also announced the conference would include Long Island University's team when it begins play in 2019. NEWHA was approved as a Division I NCAA conference in September 2019.[1] The conference will need to play at least two seasons with the same six members before being granted an automatic bid to the National Collegiate Championship playoffs in women's ice hockey.[1]

The NEWHA is scheduled to expand to seven members in 2022 with the arrival of Stonehill College, which plans to start a varsity women's hockey team in the 2022–23 season. Stonehill had initially planned to start play in 2021–22,[2] but NCAA-imposed recruiting limits imposed in the wake of COVID-19 led the school to delay the team's start by a year.[3]

On February 22, 2020, Saint Anselm and Franklin Pierce broke the record for longest NCAA women's hockey game with a five-overtime contest in the NEWHA Playoff Tournament that went 147:24. The game eclipsed the previous record of 144:32 in a 2010 game featuring RPI and Quinnipiac.[4]

Members

Current members
InstitutionLocationNicknameFoundedAffiliationEnrollmentJoinedMen's Hockey conferencePrimary ConferenceColors
Franklin Pierce UniversityRindge, NHRavens1962Private (Nonsectarian)2,3812017Northeast-10 (D-II)Northeast-10 (D-II)   
Long Island UniversityBrooklyn/Brookville, NYSharks1926Private (Nonsectarian)18,5002019Independent[lower-alpha 1]Northeast Conference   
Post UniversityWaterbury, CTEagles1890Private (For-profit)7,3172017Northeast-10 (D-II)Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (D-II)   
Sacred Heart UniversityFairfield, CTPioneers1963Private (Catholic)5,4282017Atlantic HockeyNortheast Conference   
Saint Anselm CollegeGoffstown, NHHawks1889Private (Catholic)2,0152017Northeast-10 (D-II)Northeast-10 (D-II)   
Saint Michael's CollegeColchester, VTPurple Knights1904Private (Catholic)1,6002017Northeast-10 (D-II)Northeast-10 (D-II)   
  1. While LIU is officially an independent in its first men's ice hockey season in 2020–21, it is a scheduling partner of Atlantic Hockey.[5]

Future member
InstitutionLocationNicknameFoundedAffiliationEnrollmentJoiningMen's hockey conferencePrimary conferenceColors
Stonehill CollegeEaston, MASkyhawks1948Private (Catholic)2,5002022[3]Northeast-10 (D-II)Northeast-10 (D-II)   

Former members
Institution Location Founded Type Nickname Joined Left Current
Conference
College of the Holy Cross Worcester, Massachusetts 1843 Private (Catholic) Crusaders 2017 2018 Hockey East

Membership timeline
Stonehill SkyhawksLIU Sharks women's ice hockeySaint Michael's Purple Knights women's ice hockeySaint Anselm Hawks women's ice hockeySacred Heart Pioneers women's ice hockeyPost Eagles women's ice hockeyFranklin Pierce Ravens women's ice hockeyHoly Cross Crusaders women's ice hockey

Champions
SeasonRegular SeasonNEWHA TournamentNCAA National
2017–18Saint Anselm[6]Sacred Heart[7]No Autobid
2018–19Saint Anselm[8]Saint Anselm[9]No Autobid
2019–20Sacred Heart[10]LIU[11]No Autobid

See also

References
  1. USCHO Staff (September 4, 2019). "Alliance approved for NCAA Division I status, effective with '19-20 season". USCHO. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  2. "Stonehill to Add Women's Ice Hockey; Accepts Invitation to Join NEWHA" (Press release). New England Women's Hockey Alliance. December 9, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  3. "Stonehill to Delay First Women's Hockey Season to 2022-23" (Press release). Stonehill Skyhawks. September 11, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  4. Staff (February 23, 2020). "One night after winning longest game, Saint Anselm women fall". The Union Leader. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  5. "Men's Hockey Announced as Atlantic Hockey Scheduling Partner" (Press release). LIU Sharks. October 15, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  6. "NEWHA Women's Conference Standings: 2017-2018". USCHO. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  7. "Sacred Heart 3, Saint Anselm 1". uscho. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  8. "NEWHA Women's Conference Standings: 2019-2020". USCHO. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  9. "HIGHLIGHTS/REACTION: Women's Ice Hockey 3, Franklin Pierce 0 - 2018-19 NEWHA Championship Game". YouTube. Saint Anselm Athletics. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  10. "NEWHA Women's Conference Standings: 2019-2020". USCHO. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  11. "CHAMPIONS! Women's Ice Hockey Defeats Saint Anselm, 1-0 to Capture NEWHA Championship". LIU Sharks. Long Island University Athletics. February 22, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
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