Last Sunday marked the first ever American Women’s College Hockey Alliance championship. Approximately 1,500 people showed up to see New Hampshire win the crown. Although Boston’s FleetCenter held 16,000 less than capacity, Brandy Fisher, a starter for New Hampshire, said “It’s really progressed. My freshman year we didn’t have half the support we have now.” Fisher was the winner of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the nation’s best female college player.
Alison Brewer, goalie for Brown University, said that she remembered watching her former teammates play the first Olympic women’s hockey in Nagano, Japan this winter. Brewer said, “It was a big bonding experience,” she said. “Canadians, Americans cheering on our former teammates. … It made us think women’s hockey is here. We’re the pioneers.”
Around 10 more varsity women’s hockey teams are needed to join before the sport can become an official NCAA tournament.
