| 2026 AHA Women's ice hockey tournament | |
|---|---|
| Tournament logo | |
| Dates | February 19 – March 7, 2026 |
| Teams | 7 |
| Finals site | Pegula Ice Arena University Park, Pennsylvania |
| Champions | Penn State Nittany Lions (2nd title) |
| Winning coach | Jeff Kampersal (2nd title) |
| MVP | Tessa Janecke (Penn State) |
AHA Women's Ice Hockey Tournaments ← 2025 2027 → | |
The 2026 Atlantic Hockey America Tournament will be the 2nd edition of the AHA Tournament. It will be played between February 19 and March 7, 2026. Penn State enters the tournament as the defending champions.
The Penn State Nittany Lions defended their championship by defeating the Mercyhurst Lakers by a score of 3–2. Penn State earned the conferences automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey tournament.
The tournament includes all seven teams in the conference. Teams were ranked according to their finish in the conference standings. As the two lowest seeds from the regular season, Delaware and Robert Morris will play a single-elimination game in the first round, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals. [1] [2] The game will be played on Lindenwood's campus, with Lindenwood playing and hosting the winner of the first-round game. [3] The second quarterfinal game will be a five-four matchup. Both quarterfinal games are single elimination. The two highest seeds receive a bye into the semifinals and will host a best-of-three series with the winners from the quarterfinals. [4] [5] As Penn State finished as the regular-season champions, they will host the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals. The championship takes place on March 7, 2026, at the site of the higher seed from the two quarterfinal games. The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid into the 2026 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey tournament. [6]
| Conference | Overall | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | |||
| #3 Penn State† | 24 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 68 | 117 | 27 | 34 | 29 | 5 | 0 | 147 | 47 | ||
| #12 Mercyhurst | 24 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 49 | 85 | 42 | 34 | 21 | 10 | 3 | 101 | 65 | ||
| Lindenwood | 24 | 11 | 12 | 1 | 35 | 67 | 78 | 34 | 13 | 19 | 2 | 89 | 113 | ||
| RIT | 24 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 34 | 71 | 67 | 33 | 16 | 17 | 0 | 97 | 84 | ||
| Syracuse | 24 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 33 | 44 | 66 | 34 | 14 | 16 | 4 | 64 | 94 | ||
| Robert Morris | 24 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 28 | 52 | 73 | 32 | 12 | 20 | 2 | 78 | 97 | ||
| Delaware | 24 | 1 | 23 | 0 | 5 | 24 | 107 | 32 | 2 | 30 | 0 | 33 | 138 | ||
| Championship: March 7, 2026 † indicates conference regular season champion;* indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com; updated February 23, 2026 Source: AHA | |||||||||||||||
| First Round February 19 | Quarterfinals February 21 | Semifinals February 27 - March 1 | Championship March 7 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Lindenwood | 1 | 2 | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Robert Morris | 1 | 2 | Mercyhurst | 2 | 3** | — | |||||||||||||
| 7 | Delaware | 2 | 3 | Lindenwood | 3 | 2 | Mercyhurst | |||||||||||||
| 6 | Robert Morris | 3* | 1 | Penn State | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Syracuse | 0 | 1 | — | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Syracuse | 4** | 1 | Penn State | 7 | 2 | — | |||||||||||||
| 4 | RIT | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
Note: each * denotes one overtime period
| February 19, 2026 2:00 PM | Delaware | 2-3 (1–0, 1–1, 0–1) OT: (0–1) | Robert Morris | Centene Community Ice Center, St. Charles, Missouri Attendance: 42 |
| [Game reference 1] | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte Payne | Goalies | Maggie Hatch | Referees: Christopher Binkley Richard Palo Linesmen: Andy Zawada Sean Fitzpatrick | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| 4 min | Penalties | 4 min | |||||||||||||||
| 21 | Shots | 50 | |||||||||||||||
| February 21, 2026 11:45 AM | Robert Morris | 1-3 (0-0, 1-2, 0-1) | Lindenwood | Centene Community Ice Center, St. Charles, Missouri Attendance: 101 |
| [Game reference 2] | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maggie Hatch | Goalies | Madison Botwell | Referees: Christopher Binkley Andrew Bethmann Linesmen: Andy Zawada Sean Fitzpatrick | |||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| 4 min | Penalties | 21 min | ||||||||||||
| 32 | Shots | 2 | ||||||||||||
| February 21, 2026 3:00 PM | Syracuse | 4-3 (1-1, 1-0, 1-2) OT: (0–0, 1-0) | RIT | Gene Polisseni Center, Rochester, New York Attendance: 713 |
| [Game reference 3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ava Drabyk | Goalies | Brenna McNamara | Referees: Todd Plouffe Aaron Alexin Linesmen: Seamus Andrew Nichola Romano | ||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 min | Penalties | 2 min | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 | Shots | 31 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| February 27, 2026 6:00 PM | Syracuse | 0–7 (0–2, 0–3, 0–3) | Penn State | Pegula Ice Arena, University Park, Pennsylvania Attendance: 924 |
| [Game reference 4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ava Drabyk Bella Gould | Goalies | Katie DeSa | Referees: Christopher Binkley Mackenzie Gaydosh Linesmen: Ashley Johnston Seamus Andrew | ||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 min | Penalties | 8 min | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Shots | 36 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| February 28, 2026 3:00 PM | Syracuse | 1–2 (0–1, 1–1, 0–0) | Penn State | Pegula Ice Arena, University Park, Pennsylvania Attendance: 862 |
| [Game reference 5] | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ava Drabyk | Goalies | Katie DeSa | Referees: Christopher Binkley Mackenzie Gaydosh Linesmen: Ashley Johnston Seamus Andrew | ||||||||
| |||||||||||
| 10 min | Penalties | 4 min | |||||||||
| 16 | Shots | 30 | |||||||||
| February 27, 2026 3:00 PM | Lindenwood | 1–2 (1–1, 0–0, 0–1) | Mercyhurst | Mercyhurst Ice Center, Erie, Pennsylvania Attendance: 689 |
| [Game reference 6] | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison Botwell | Goalies | Magdalena Luggin | Referees: Nate Shemo Erica D'Errico Linesmen: Andy Zawada Nicholas Romano | ||||||||
| |||||||||||
| 6 min | Penalties | 4 min | |||||||||
| 23 | Shots | 36 | |||||||||
| February 28, 2026 1:00 PM | Lindenwood | 2–3 2OT (1–0, 1–1, 0–1) OT: (0–0, 0-1) | Mercyhurst | Mercyhurst Ice Center, Erie, Pennsylvania |
| [Game reference 7] | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison Bowtell | Goalies | Magdalena Luggin | Referees: Nate Shemo Erica D'Errico Linesmen: Andy Zawada Nicholas Romano | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| 4 min | Penalties | 8 min | |||||||||||||||
| 28 | Shots | 43 | |||||||||||||||
| March 7, 2026 2:00 PM | Mercyhurst | v | Penn State | Pegula Ice Arena, University Park, Pennsylvania |
Note: all times eastern
Forward: Tessa Janecke*, Penn State
Forward: Matilde Fantin, Penn State
Forward: Peyton Armstrong, Syracuse
Defense: Kendall Butze, Penn State
Defense: Abby Poitras, Mercyhurst
Goalie: Katie DeSa, Penn State
Most Outstanding Player: *