WCHA Leads Way In Women's Attendance
Minnesota's Ridder Arena, home to the Golden Gophers, will host the 2004 WCHA Women's Final Five. |
 |
July 31, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
MADISON, Wisc. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association led the way in NCAA Division 1 women's ice hockey attendance for the fourth consecutive season in 2003-03, drawing 70,481 fans over 116 regular season games and averaging a nation's best 608 fans per game. Ranking second among the conferences was the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) with 46,112 (322 average per game), followed by Hockey East Association (HEA) with 22,397 (236 per game) and College Hockey America (CHA) with 15,821 (251 per game).
Among the 29 Div. 1 women's programs, the WCHA had the top three teams in average home attendance in University of Minnesota (1st 1,943 per game), University of Minnesota-Duluth (2nd 1,288 per game), and University of Wisconsin (3rd 904 per game).
Other WCHA teams and their national attendance rankings for 2002-03 were Ohio State University (10th 282 per game), St. Cloud State University (20th 187 per game), Minnesota State University (23rd 166 per game), and Bemidji State University (24th 144 per game). The University of North Dakota, set to join the WCHA in 2004-05, was fifth nationally last season with an average of 836 fans per game.
NCAA Division I Women's Ice Hockey Attendance: 2002-03
| Rk Team (League) | Total | Games | Avg |
| 1 Minnesota (WCHA) | 27,208 | 14 | 1,943 |
| 2 Minnesota-Duluth (WCHA) | 25,769 | 20 | 1,288 |
| 3 Wisconsin (WCHA) | 14,476 | 16 | 904 |
| 4 Dartmouth (ECAC) | 15,335 | 17 | 902 |
| 5 North Dakota (Ind.) | 11,705 | 14 | 836 |
| 6 New Hampshire (HEA) | 9,953 | 16 | 622 |
| 7 Harvard (ECAC) | 7,524 | 15 | 501 |
| 8 St. Lawrence (ECAC) | 8,715 | 20 | 435 |
| 9 Brown (ECAC) | 6,343 | 15 | 422 |
| 10 Niagara (CHA) | 6,728 | 16 | 420 |
| 11 Ohio State (WCHA) | 4,796 | 17 | 282 |
| 12 Princeton (ECAC) | 4,156 | 15 | 277 |
| 13 Mercyhurst (CHA) | 4,610 | 18 | 256 |
| 14 Quinnipiac (Ind.) | 2,914 | 13 | 224 |
| 15 Yale (ECAC) | 4,160 | 20 | 208 |
| 16 Northeastern (HEA) | 2,824 | 14 | 201 |
| 17 Vermont (ECAC) | 2,750 | 14 | 196 |
| 18 Connecticut (HEA) | 3,075 | 16 | 192 |
| 19 Providence (HEA) | 3,599 | 19 | 189 |
| 20 St. Cloud State (WCHA) | 2,805 | 15 | 187 |
| 21 Wayne State (CHA) | 2,752 | 15 | 183 |
| 22 Maine (HEA) | 2,616 | 15 | 174 |
| 23 Minnesota State (WCHA) | 3,324 | 20 | 166 |
| 24 Bemidji State (WCHA) | 2,305 | 16 | 144 |
| 25 Colgate (ECAC) | 2,390 | 17 | 141 |
| 26 Cornell (ECAC) | 1,377 | 10 | 138 |
| 27 Sacred Heart (ECAC) | 1,484 | 11 | 134 |
| 28 Findlay (CHA) | 2,050 | 16 | 128 |
| 29 Boston College (HEA) | 2,243 | 18 | 125 |
|
|
 |
