The Golden Gopher women’s hockey team received the fourth overall seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. No. 4 Minnesota will face No. 5 Northeastern after the NCAA unveiled the 11-team bracket for the 2026 National Collegiate Women’s Ice Hockey Championship on Sunday morning.
Minnesota and Northeastern will play on Saturday, March 14 at Ridder Arena at 2:00 p.m. CT.
Receiving an at-large bid, Minnesota is making its 23rd overall appearance in the NCAA postseason. The Gophers will look to return to the Frozen Four for the 16th time, with their last appearance in the event in 2023.
Quinnipiac (ECAC Hockey), Penn State (AHA), Franklin Pierce (NEWHA), UConn (Hockey East), and Ohio State (WCHA) earned the five automatic bids by winning their respective conference tournaments while Minnesota-Duluth, Northeastern, Minnesota, Princeton, Wisconsin, Yale and Saint Anslem earned at-large bids.
For a sixth-straight season, the University of Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey team is going to the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs officially punched the program’s 17th ticket to the big dance Sunday morning after the NCAA’s selection show revealed UMD will travel to Columbus, Ohio. to play Yale University in the NCAA Regional Semifinal Thursday with a 5:00 p.m. CDT puck drop at OSU Ice Rink.
UMD will face a non-Western Collegiate Hockey Association opponent in the NCAA tournament opening round for a sixth-consecutive season. Overall, the Bulldogs own a 20-14-3 record and have gone 2-10-1 against teams in the NCAA tournament. The winner of the all Bulldog showdown Thursday will face No. 1 seeded Ohio State University on Saturday in the NCAA Regional Final.
This will mark the fifth-ever NCAA Regional Semifinal game for UMD in the NCAA Tournament, which expanded to 11 teams five seasons ago. All-time, UMD is 22-11 in the NCAA postseason, including 10-5 in NCAA First Round/Quarterfinals/Regional Semifinals and marks the 17th time UMD has been invited to the NCAA Tournament in program history – the second most in NCAA Division I women’s hockey history.
2026 NCAA Tournament Match-Ups
No. 1 Ohio State hosts Yale/Minnesota Duluth
No. 2 Wisconsin hosts Quinnipiac/Franklin Pierce
No. 3 Penn State hosts UConn/Princeton
No. 4 Minnesota hosts No. 5 Northeastern
Quarterfinal competition will take place on the campuses of the four host institutions with the winners advancing to the 2026 Women’s Frozen Four on Friday, March 2 and Sunday, March 22 at Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, PA.
(info and stock photo courtesy of Gopher and UMD Sports)
