American women ' s ice hockey history The history of women ' s ice hockey in the United States can be traced back to the early 20th Centry . In the 1920 ' s , the Seattle Vamps competed in various hockey tournaments . In 1916 , the United States hosted an international hockey tournament in Cleveland , Ohio , that featured Canadian and American women ’ s hockey teams . AWCHA . In 1997 - 98 , the American Women ' s College Hockey Alliance debuted . It was a program funded through the USOC / NCAA Conference Grant Program . The AWCHA organized and developed activities with collegiate women ' s varsity ice hockey teams , and helped to promote women ' s ice hockey at all NCAA levels . The first AWCHA Division I National Ice Hockey Championship was held in March 1998 . The New Hampshire Wildcats defeated the Brown Bears by a 4 - 1 score , to become the first recognized national champion in women ' s college ice hockey . In the 1999 - 2000 season , the Western Collegiate Hockey Association ( WCHA ) joined the Eastern College Athletic Conference ( ECAC ) as the second league in the nation to offer women ' s Division I competition . There were two more AWCHA National Championships and then the NCAA became involved . In August 2000 , the NCAA announced it would hold its first Division I Women ' s Ice Hockey National Championship . The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs captured the first NCAA Division I Women ' s Ice Hockey Championship , defeating the St . Lawrence Skating Saints by a 4 - 2 tally on March 25 , 2001 . Ivy League women ’ s hockey . In 1964 , the Brown Bears men ' s coach Jim Fullerton arranged for Nancy Schieffelin to attend a team practice . She was an experienced player and came to the practice disguised in full uniform . A year later , Brown University would have the first women ' s ice hockey program . The team was known as the Pembroke Pandas . The Pandas would have to borrow equipment , and sell hockey rule sheets at the Bears men ' s games to raise money for equipment . In February 1966 , the Pandas ( Brown Bears ) women ’ s ice hockey team played their first game . Against the Walpole Brooms , the club lost by a 4 - 1 score . The Cornell women ' s hockey program was started in 1971 . It would only be in 1972 that the team would play its first game . It was a 4 - 3 victory over Scarborough . In 1972 , they would play eight games and lose four . In addition , the Big Red would lose twice to the Brown Bears women ' s ice hockey program . Yale University debuted its women ’ s ice hockey program on December 9 , 1975 . Its first match was versus Choate - Rosemary Hall . The Bulldogs prevailed by a 5 - 3 tally . Two years later , the Bulldogs hockey program would attain varsity status . In 1976 , Brown would host the first ever Ivy League women ' s ice hockey tournament . The other competing schools were Cornell , Princeton and Yale . The Big Red would win the tournament . Dartmouth College would welcome women ’ s ice hockey on January 7 , 1978 . The Big Green would defeat Middlebury by a 6 - 5 score . The Big Green would finish their inaugural season with 7 wins , 7 losses , and 1 tie . Against Ivy League teams , the Big Green were 1 - 3 - 1 . In the 1978 - 79 season , the Harvard Crimson would ice a women ’ s team . Their first game was a 17 - 0 defeat at the hands of the Providence Friars women ' s ice hockey program . The next game was a 2 - 1 loss to the Yale Bulldogs women ' s ice hockey program . On November 24 , 1979 , the Princeton Tigers played their first varsity game against the University of Pennsylvania . In winter of 1982 , Princeton would snap the Cornell Big Red women ' s ice hockey program ' s string of six straight Ivy League titles . In 1998 , the Patty Kazmaier Award was introduced . The award is named after former Princeton Tigers player Patty Kazmaier . In 1998 - 99 , the Harvard Crimson finished with a record of 33 - 1 . Led by head coach , Katey Stone , the Crimson would proceed to win the American Women ' s College Hockey Alliance national championship . Ivy League players accomplishments . In 1987 , Mollie Marcoux joined the Princeton Tigers . In her four years with the Tigers , Marcoux would gain twelve letters in athletics ( including hockey , soccer , and lacrosse ) . In 1990 , Dartmouth Big Green player Judy Parish Oberting was named to the first U . S . National Team that competed at the 1990 Women ' s World Ice Hockey Championships . In 1998 , Laurie Belliveau of Yale and Sarah Hood of Dartmouth were two Ivy League players named first team All - Americans . This was the first time that Ivy League women ' s hockey players were bestowed such an honor . During the 2003 - 04 season , Nicole Corriero would set an NCAA record with 59 goals scored in a season . In the same season , former Princeton player Laura Halldorson would coach the Minnesota Golden Gophers women ' s ice hockey program to the 2004 NCAA title . Notable teams . Connecticut Polar Bears . The Connecticut Polar Bears are an ice hockey league for girls under the age of 19 in Connecticut . Numerous players from the Polar Bears have go on to careers in college hockey at the NCAA Division I and Division III levels . In 1985 , Maurice FitzMaurice ’ s daughter Marnie wanted the opportunity to play ice hockey among girls . FitzMaurice and a few other fathers decided to organize a Pee Wee Girls program . The result was the Connecticut Polar Bears . It is the only all girl ’ s ice hockey program in Connecticut , which consists of eleven teams . Since its beginnings , FitzMaurice has been the President of the Polar Beasrs . He was also one of the organizers of one of the largest Christmas tournaments in North America . In 2007 , the tournament hosted about 275 teams . Games were played across Connecticut . The program has produced numerous Olympians , including : Julie Chu , Jaime Hagerman , Hillary Knight , Sue Merz , A . J . Mleczko , Kim Insalaco , Angela Ruggiero , Sarah Vaillancourt and Gretchen Ulion . Minnesota Whitecaps . Minnesota first competed for the Clarkson Cup in 2009 in Kingston Ontario . The team lost to the Montreal Stars in a one game final 3 goals to 1 . In 2010 , the Minnesota Whitecaps became the first United States based team to win the Clarkson Cup doing so by defeating the Brampton Thunder 4 goals to none . Seattle Vamps . As early as January 1916 , Frank Patrick and Lester Patrick talked of the formation of a women ’ s league to complement the Pacific Coast Hockey Association . The proposal included teams from Vancouver , Victoria , Portland and Seattle . The league never formed but in January 1917 , the Vancouver News - Advertiser reported that wives of the Seattle Metropolitans had assembled a team . In February 1921 , Frank Patrick announced a women ’ s international championship series that would be played in conjuction with the Pacific Coast Hockey Association . The three teams that competed were the Vancouver Amazons , Victoria Kewpies , and Seattle Vamps . On February 21 , 1921 , the Seattle Vamps competed against the Vancouver Amazons in Vancouver , and were vanquished by a 5 - 0 score . Two days later , the Vamps played against a team from the University of British Columbia and won the game . Jerry Reed scored three goals ( a hat trick ) in the game for the Vamps . In both games , the Vancouver media referred to the Seattle team as the Seattle Sweeties . The Amazons would travel to Seattle and defeat them again . On March 2 , 1921 , the Vamps were defeated by the Kewpies 1 - 0 in Seattle . In the rematch on March 12 , the Vamps travelled to Victoria . The result was a 1 - 1 tie , and Jerry Reed scored the goal for Seattle . The goaltender for the Vamps was Mildren Terran . After the 1921 season , the Vamps and the Kewpies ceased operations . Minnesota . In 1994 , more than 500 member schools were sent letters by the Minnesota State high school league . The intent was to determine how many schools were interested in starting girls ' ice hockey teams . Twenty - four expressed interest as the league was looking for a new sport for Title IX purposes . On March 21 , 1994 , the Minnesota State High School League sanctioned girls ’ ice hockey . Minnesota becomes the first state in the U . S . to sanction girls ’ ice hockey as a high school varsity sport . On March 25 , 1995 , Apple Valley High School defeated the South St . Paul Packers , 2 - 0 , to become the first Minnesota girls ’ state high school champion . From 1994 to 2002 , the number of varsity girls ' teams in Minnesota expanded from 24 to 125 ( in two classifications , AA and A ) . In 2001 , a three - day girls ' state tournament attracted 15 , 551 spectators . In 1994 there were 1 , 863 girls in the state participating in organized hockey outside of a varsity high school program . In 2002 , the number increased to 6 , 856 . International Tournaments . The following women ' s ice hockey tournaments ( featuring teams from other nations ) were contested in the United States .