GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team will face a familiar foe in their 2026 national quarterfinal. On Sunday afternoon, U SPORTS announced the seedings and schedule for the 2026 U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championships, which are set to take place in Elmira, Ontario from March 19-22. The OUA champion Gryphons will be the No. 3-seed in the eight-team field, and will drop the puck at nationals on Thursday night (March 19) when they face the tournament hosts and No. 6-seeded University of Waterloo Warriors in a U SPORTS quarterfinal. The Warriors received an automatic bid to nationals as they are hosting the national championship tournament for a second consecutive year after winning silver at last year's U SPORTS Championships. The Gryphons defeated the Warriors in a thrilling OUA quarterfinal series this season, with
Teghan MacRae's triple overtime goal in Game 3 sending Guelph through to the OUA semi's. Guelph went on to sweep Ontario Tech, before defeating the Ottawa Gee-Gees in the McCaw Cup (OUA championship game). All games from the 2026 U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championships will be played at the Woolwich Memorial Centre in Elmira, Ontario. The Gryphons head to Elmira in search of the second national title in program history, with the Gryphons lone U SPORTS title coming during the 2018-19 season. This marks the sixth time in program history the Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team has reached the national stage, and first time since 2018-19. See below for more information on the upcoming 2026 Miller Waste Systems U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship.
2026 U SPORTS Women's Hockey Quarterfinals:
Thursday, March 19, 2026
3pm – #2 Concordia vs #7 Manitoba (U SPORTS Quarterfinal #1)
7pm - #3 Guelph vs #6 Waterloo (U SPORTS Quarterfinal #2)
Friday, March 20, 2026
3pm – #1 UBC vs #8 Montreal (U SPORTS Quarterfinal #3)
7pm - #4 UNB vs #5 Ottawa (U SPORTS Quarterfinal #4)
The complete field, in seeding order, is as follows:
- UBC Thunderbirds (CW champions: 26-2-0 regular season, 4-0 playoffs)
- Concordia Stingers (RSEQ champions: 22-2-0, 4-0)
- Guelph Gryphons (OUA champions: 19-4-3, 5-1)
- UNB Reds (AUS champions: 20-6-2, 5-2)
- Ottawa Gee-Gees (OUA finalists: 15-9-2, 4-3)
- Waterloo Warriors (hosts: 17-8-1, 1-2)
- Manitoba Bisons (CW finalists: 13-9-6, 4-4)
- Montréal Carabins (RSEQ finalists: 13-9-2, 2-3)
TICKETS
Tickets for the 2026 U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championships are available online at the Waterloo Warriors athletics website .
BROADCASTS
All games will be broadcast live on CBC Sports digital platforms in English. In French, all games will be on Radio Canada's digital platforms, with Sunday's gold medal game also being aired on CBC and TVA Sports.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Thursday, March 19, 2026
3pm – #2 Concordia vs #7 Manitoba (U SPORTS Quarterfinal #1)
7pm - #3 Guelph vs #6 Waterloo (U SPORTS Quarterfinal #2)
Friday, March 20, 2026
3pm – #1 UBC vs #8 Montreal (U SPORTS Quarterfinal #3)
7pm - #4 UNB vs #5 Ottawa (U SPORTS Quarterfinal #4)
Saturday, March 21
10am: Consolation Semifinal 1
1pm: Consolation Semifinal 2
4pm: Semifinal 1
7pm: Semifinal 2
Sunday, March 22
8am: Consolation Final
11am: Bronze Medal
3pm: Gold Medal (CBC Broadcast)
