The ECAC is full of surprises. At the end of the 2025-26 regular season, Princeton and Yale were tied for the top of the conference, but neither team won the ECAC postseason tournament. The conference championship ultimately went to Quinnipiac, which finished third in the regular season. All three teams made it into the NCAA tournament, but none made the Frozen Four after running into tough competition from the WCHA and Hockey East.
While the Tigers, Bulldogs, and Bobcats all lost players to graduation, each team has a strong group of young players looking to take the next step and fight for the top of the ECAC. The question is, which one pulls it off?
Princeton
Last season, Princeton got off to a slower start, but surged into the new year to earn their first ECAC regular-season title. The Tigers’ top line of Issy Wunder, Emerson O’Leary, and Mackenzie Alexander was crucial to their success, driving scoring and flipping the momentum of the game in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Wunder and O’Leary graduated, as did Jane Kuehl, who was third in scoring behind Wunder and Alexander. Losing them hurts Princeton’s offense big time.
As a whole, the Tigers in 2025-26 were a young team, especially on the back end, but they were effective. Princeton had the second-fewest goals against per game in the ECAC, holding top scorer Kahlen Lamarche goalless against them and handling hot team offenses throughout the season. Meanwhile, goaltender Uma Corniea was solid for the Tigers. She took the grand majority of starts and posted a 0.935 save percentage for the season and six shutouts. Despite this, Princeton fell out of the conference tournament in overtime against Quinnipiac, and the team’s inexperience showed in the NCAA tournament. In the regional semifinals against UConn, a goaltender on a hot streak halted the top line and the defense fell apart, ending Princeton’s season.
Losing their best players and crumbling under playoff pressure might not sound good for Princeton in 2026-27, but the future is a lot brighter for the Tigers than it seems. While neither the ECAC nor NCAA tournaments went Princeton’s way, those games served as valuable learning experiences for this team. The upside of a young team is that players have a chance to take the next step forward with another year under their belts. They’ll look to Mackenzie Alexander to grow into a starring role on the offense without Wunder and O’Leary for her third season in black and orange. Junior Angelina DiGirolamo and sophomore Riley Sorokan are two more forwards who can continue to build on a good 25-26. On the blueline, it will be junior Rosie Klein and seniors Maggie Johnson and Teja Gatfield leading the way after helping to anchor Princeton’s defense last season.
The Tigers will also have the benefit of year two with head coach Courtney Kessel. Kessel returned to Princeton for 2025-26 after two seasons with the Boston Fleet and definitely had an impact on the team. The Tigers went from sixth in the ECAC in 2024-25 under former coach Cara Gardner Morey to tied for first the next year. Princeton was also awarded Ivy League Coaching Staff of the Year for 2025-26. Just as young players get another year to build on what they’ve learned, Kessel and her staff get another year to shape this team and continue their upward trajectory.
Yale
2025-26 was a steady rise for Yale, capped off with a 14-game win streak and their second regular-season ECAC title in program history. In the conference tournament, they cruised through Cornell with contributions from up and down the lineup, but lost the championship to Quinnipiac. They earned an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament, defeating Minnesota-Duluth in the regional semi-finals for their second-ever NCAA tournament win before running into Ohio State and losing all momentum. Yale still has plenty of promise for next season, though.
The two brightest spots for Yale last season are both returning for 2026-27 after remarkable rookie years. Samson Frey proved to be the future in net for the Bulldogs after a great showing in the second half of the season. Over 19 games, all but one of which were in 2026, Frey won 16 games, posted a 0.936 save percentage, and logged six shutouts. In perhaps the goaltender’s most impressive performance, Frey helped lead Yale through a goalie duel, making 37 saves to win the NCAA regional semifinal game against Minnesota-Duluth. At the end of the season, Frey was named to the All-USCHO Rookie Team, All-ECAC Rookie Team, and All-Ivy League Second Team.
The winning goalscorer in the UMD game was Yale’s other standout, defender Molly Boyle. Boyle helped drive the Bulldogs’ offense from the blueline, tallying 36 points on 13 goals and 23 assists. For reference, 2026 Patty Kazmaier winner, PWHL first overall pick, and fellow offensive defender Caroline Harvey posted a similar 13 goals and 26 assists in her rookie year.
Boyle’s numbers were good enough to set a program record for single-season points and assists by a defender. She was also third on the team in points, second in assists, and fourth in goals. Boyle earned quite the first-year trophy cabinet, as she was awarded ECAC Defender of the Year, Ivy League Rookie of the Year, and named a Second Team All-American. Even after losing top-scoring forwards Jordan Ray and Carina DiAntonio, Yale is still in good hands offensively with Boyle. She’ll have support on the front end, too, as the team looks for more contributions from returning forwards like Stephanie Stainton, Hannah Weyerhaeuser, and Mariya Rauf.
Quinnipiac
Last season, Quinnipiac peaked at the perfect time. After finishing just behind Princeton and Yale in the regular-season ECAC standings, they came out of a slump and turned it on for the post-season. Quinnipiac downed Princeton in overtime in the conference semifinals, then cruised past Yale for the program’s first ECAC championship in ten years. As conference champions, they drew into the NCAA tournament, where they shut out Franklin Pierce in the regional semifinals. Winning that game unfortunately put them up against the buzzsaw that is Wisconsin, but Quinnipiac fought hard. Now, the Bobcats will be looking to carry their momentum into 2026-27.
Similar to Yale, Quinnipiac retains the two most important elements of their previous success. One of those is breakout goaltender Felicia Frank. In only her second year in the NCAA, the Swedish netminder appeared in every game and broke Quinnipiac’s single-season save record with 1,035 in 41 games. Her 29 wins led the NCAA, and her 10 shutouts were a program record and tied for second in college women’s hockey. She posted a 0.942 save percentage on the season, with a conference-leading 0.949 in ECAC play.
Even during the 6-0 loss against Wisconsin in the NCAA regional finals, Frank made 45 saves. The career-high metric that proves just how much of an impact she had on even the most lopsided games. Deservingly, Frank was the ECAC Goaltender of the Year and a finalist for both ECAC Player of the Year and the national Women’s Hockey Goalie of the Year. Frank’s 2025-26 season for the Bobcats was nothing short of heroic, and a huge part of the team’s success.
Meanwhile, Kahlen Lamarche brought the offensive firepower. In her junior year, Lamarche was the NCAA’s leading goalscorer with 42 goals, ahead of players like Abbey Murphy and Lacey Eden. Lamarche also tallied 22 assists for 64 points, good enough for third overall in the NCAA, plus Quinnipiac program records for single-season points and goals. Lamarche earned a nod as a top ten finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, the first ever for a Bobcat. Before 2025-26, Lamarche was solid, but nowhere near as explosive as she was last season. She was a threat whenever she stepped on the ice, and most conference opponents couldn’t contain her.
Quinnipiac did have its losses, but returning players seem ready to step up and replace graduating seniors. Emerson Jarvis was the second-most productive Bobcat after Lamarche and led the team in faceoff wins, and Taylor Brueske could help pick up where she left off. Brueske tripled her point production between her freshman and sophomore years while becoming a bit of a faceoff specialist, landing behind Jarvis with 206 wins. Another junior forward with a particular skill is Avery Bairos, who has the clutch gene. Three of her four goals last season were game-winners, and two of those came in the ECAC championship tournament. Bairos logged the OT goal that lifted Quinnipiac over Princeton in the conference semifinals, then tallied the eventual game-winner against Yale in the finals.
On the blueline, losing the defensively responsible Zoe Uens hurts. Having Frank in net can make up for a lot of mistakes, but the Bobcats still have to work hard in front of her. It’ll be up to returning defenders like the Bobcats’ 25-26 blocks leader, Ella Sennick, and Makayla Watson to pick up the slack and keep Quinnipiac’s back end tight.
And the winner is…
I predict Quinnipiac will win the ECAC in 2026-27. It was between them and Yale for me. I think Princeton will be towards the top of the conference again, but losing their best players will hit hard. On the other hand, Quinnipiac retains most of the pieces that made them successful last year, specifically Lamarche and Frank. Both are at the top of their game and proved to be some of the best players at their positions in all of D1 women’s hockey. If they can keep it up and the other pieces slot into place around them, Quinnipiac has a real shot at adding its first ECAC regular-season title to join its conference championships.
