According to the HockeyEast website:

May 31, 2002

WAKEFIELD, Mass. - The HOCKEY EAST Association will sponsor a Division
I women's ice hockey league beginning this fall, it was announced today
by HOCKEY EAST Commissioner Joe Bertagna. Charter members of the
conference include Boston College, the University of Maine, the
University of New Hampshire, Northeastern University, and Providence
College. In addition, an invitation has been extended to the University
of Connecticut to become the sixth team in the conference and that
invitation has been accepted by Director of Athletics Lew Perkins.

"We are extremely excited to make this announcement and even more
anxious to watch this new conference take shape," said Bertagna. "Our
goal is to very quickly see the HOCKEY EAST Women's League enjoy the
success and national respect that our men's league currently enjoys.
Given the strength of our line-up of institutions, we expect this to
happen immediately."

The historic first league game will take place on Friday, November 1,
when Boston College hosts Providence College at the Conte Forum in
Chestnut Hill, MA.

Other institutions whose men's hockey programs reside in HOCKEY EAST
will have the opportunity to join the women's league when each has a
varsity women's program in place. Two such institutions, Boston
University and Merrimack College, have indicated that their programs
will be ready when new facilities allow.

The University of Connecticut, whose men's hockey team plays in the
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), is looking forward to this
new relationship.

"The University of Connecticut is very proud to be part of the HOCKEY
EAST Women's League," said Perkins. "Our school is extremely committed
to the sport of women's ice hockey and we look forward to being part of
one of the top conferences in the country. We have had a long athletic
association with many of the schools in HOCKEY EAST and we look forward
to our new associations as well."

All six of the programs launching the HOCKEY EAST Women's League have
been playing within the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC),
forming the ECAC Eastern Division in 2001-2002, along with Niagara
University and Quinnipiac University. Games already scheduled for
2002-2003 with Niagara and Quinnipiac will be honored as non-conference
contests.

Retaining the schedule that was already in place, the schools will play
an unbalanced schedule next year, facing each league opponent three
times (15 league games each.) Beginning with the 2003-2004 season, the
schools will play each other four times (two home, two away), for a
20-game league schedule. Post-season tournament plans will be announced
next month.

"We wish to acknowledge the contributions that the ECAC has made, not
only for our six programs but for women's ice hockey nationally," said
Bertagna. "This development today is the logical next step for this
sport as it continues its phenomenal growth."

New Hampshire, Northeastern and Providence have combined to win 15 of
the 20 Division I women's ice hockey championship titles that the ECAC
has awarded since 1984. Among the other contributions to women's ice
hockey made by the now HOCKEY EAST programs:





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    good shooting
    rhun
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Women's College Ice Hockey from rhun:  http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~cwinters

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