Additionally, UMass has won four ECWHL playoff titles (a conference championship total that trails only rival Rhode Island nationally) and has been the home of two Zoë M. Harris Award winners (Maura Grainger in 2008–09 and Brittani Lanzilli in 2015–16), one of five ACHA D1 programs to produce multiple recipients of the honor.

Under head coach Bill Finn, and featuring early stars like three-time All-American Aleta Mills, Jacqui Phillips, Samatha Louras and goalie Becky Trudel, the Minutemen finished second in the East Region and received an autobid to the third-ever ACHA National Tournament, in Muskegon, Michigan.

That season, the program helped start the Eastern Collegiate Women's Hockey League, with Rhode Island, Penn State, Buffalo and Boston University as the other founding members.

Invited teams included new conference opponents Rhode Island and Buffalo, along with West LA College, Robert Morris (IL) (the eventual champion) and Colorado.

Beginning in the mid-2000s, UMass continued to grow its program by aggressively pursuing scheduling against NCAA varsity opposition, including Castleton State, MIT, Sacred Heart and Holy Cross.

UMass, meanwhile, was somewhat fortunate to receive an automatic hosting bid to the tourney that year – that final season's ranking of 15th was its lowest ever and one that wouldn't have otherwise earned a spot a nationals.

The 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons were notable as UMass' first serious foray into the national championship discussion, thanks to new head coach Chris Cobb and a sudden talent infusion led by Maura Grainger and URI transfer Cara Murphy.

The Bay Staters did push the Lions like few teams of that era could though, in taking an early lead before LU tied things up late, then won in double overtime on an Alexandra Johansson goal.

Even with less conference success than had become customary, the Minutemen did continue to qualify for nationals – albeit narrowly, as the 8th, 7th and 8th seed in the eight-team fields of 2010, 2011 and 2012, with their 2012 inclusion ahead of an ECWHL regular season champion Penn State squad seen as controversial in some corners.

UMass scored a historic 4–3 victory over three-time defending national champion Lindenwood on January 22, 2011, thanks to Rachel Gantt's late power play winner and 47 saves by Kelsey Magrane.

[11] Wright inherited a strong team that already included the aforementioned stars, along with key freshmen Ally Perdios and Jess Greenwood, and Penn State transfer Paige Harrington.

The URI side likely felt that they deserved better thanks to their 2–0 shutout of UMass to recapture the ECWHL playoff title, although the Minutemen would be able to point to their sweep of Rhody by identical 4–1 scores just two weeks prior to that in reply.

Corell and URI's Kayla DiLorenzo, two of the ACHA's best goalies, traded big saves with 29 and 23 stops, respectively, but early goals from Labossiere and Raschelle Bräm were just enough for a 2–1 victory.

Although the next two years didn't produce much success at nationals (UMass failed to win a game at the tournament in both 2015 and 2016), particularly compared to the three straight final four runs of 2012 through 2014, they were marked by gains in other areas.

A 15–3–0 league record was good enough to edge URI for the regular season title, and the Minutemen followed that up by shelling the Rams 7–2 in the playoff championship game behind two goals each from Mallory O'Brien and Brittani Lanzilli.

Thus bolstered, the Minutemen wasted no time in picking up the key non-conference win that had proven somewhat elusive in recent seasons: a wild 5–4 outcome over then-second-ranked Liberty, an affair that saw UMass go from up 3–0 after the first period to down 4–3 early in the third, before goals from Tatum Schulz and Joanna Olson pulled the tilt back.

[28] In 2017–18, UMass showed early promise when an Olson overtime goal boosted the Minutemen over a national-title-contending Michigan State team,[29] as part of a solid start to the year.

However, the team was decimated with several key injuries by November, including Lanzilli, Kelly Dolan, and Courtney Sullivan, while another notable player, Katy Turner, studied in Hawai'i during the first half of the year.

While still affected by injuries, the Minutemen dropped their series to Rhode Island with a 1–2–1 record in games played during December and January, and the Rams would go on to win the crown after both they and UMass went 4–0–0 against Penn State, the third remaining ECWHL member.

A strong finish to the regular season, particularly a key sweep of eventual Western Women's Collegiate Hockey League champion Colorado in February, ultimately locked down an ACHA-best 15th nationals bid for the program.

UMass dropped to 9th the next week after a 1–2–0 weekend at the Robert Morris University Showcase and would not make it back into the top eight for the rest of the season, missing the ACHA National Tournament for the first time since 2004 (a streak of 14 appearances in a row).

The Minutemen, as usual, performed strongly within the ECWHL, winning the regular season (which has served as the only league championship since 2018), but were ultimately doomed by a 6–7–0 mark against a tough out-of-conference schedule including powerhouses like the Spartans, Liberty, Lindenwood–Belleville, and McKendree.

Season sweeps of ECWHL opponents Rhode Island and Penn State helped the team stay in the 5th or 6th spot in the rankings all year long, but the Minutemen truly announced themselves as a contender on January 18, 2020, with a 2–0 victory against No.

[75] She made 32 saves on 34 Japan shots in a key 3–2 U.S. pool round win that (eventually) allowed the team to advance to the semifinals, and then delivered a 28-save shutout of China in the bronze medal match.

The team included Brittany Resendes as UMass' sole player representative,[79] while Minutemen head coach Chris Cobb was an assistant to Rhode Island's Beth McCann.

The group is headlined by Paige Harrington, who signed a one-year, $10,000 contract with the Buffalo Beauts of the National Women's Hockey League for the team and circuit's inaugural 2015–16 season.

Corell and DiLorenzo (both of whom ended the year among the national top five in goals against average, save percentage and shutouts) engaged in another goaltending duel, but first-period markers from Caleigh Labossiere and Raschelle Bräm proved decisive in a 2–1 UMass victory.

They combined to contribute eight players – more than one-third of the roster – to the 2013 World University Games bronze medal effort, including Lauren Hillberg, Alisha Difilippo and Cassie Catlow on the URI side.

In that game, a pool round meeting on March 5, 2015, PSU ran out to a 3–1 lead after two periods but UMass rallied for a 3–3 tie after Amanda Abromson scored with 1:04 left in regulation.

Goaltender and 2017 World University Games hero Amber Greene also began her collegiate career at Penn State, although as a member of the school's separate NCAA Division I team.