2026 CHSGHA Girls High School Ice Hockey State Tournament storylines, top players and predictions

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New Canaan's Marissa DelCarmine (7) sends the puck at the net in front of Darien's Mia Avalos (18) during the FCIAC girls ice hockey final at the Darien Ice House on Saturday, Feb. 28. 2026. (Dave Stewart/Hearst Connecticut Media)


The puck drops for the CHSGHA girls ice hockey tournament with six first-round games on Monday and 14 teams vying for a trip to Quinnipiac's M&T Bank Arena for the state championship on March 11.

This year's tournament field has expanded to 14 teams, up two from the 12 qualifiers in previous years.

The quarterfinals are Thursday on the home ice of the highest remaining seeds, including No. 1 Darien, the defending champion, and No. 2 New Canaan, last season's runner-up.

The semifinals will be held at The Rinks at Shelton on Saturday, with the final starting at 7 p.m., March 11, at Quinnipiac.

GametimeCT girls ice hockey writer Dave Stewart breaks down the tournament with a look at a few storylines, key players, and a few predictions.

CHSGHA TOURNAMENT​

STORYLINES​

BLUE SKIES​

It's difficult to understate how good Darien has been the past two seasons. The Blue Wave was a perfect 22-0 with FCIAC and CHSGHA championships last winter, and are 20-1 this season, beating New Canaan 4-1 for an FCIAC four-peat on Saturday. Darien's one loss was a 4-1 decision to rival New Canaan and it's since won 16 straight games to earn the state tournament's No. 1 seed. The CHSGHA was formed in 2015 and in its first eight tournaments, the Wave has appeared in seven finals, winning five championships. Darien features numerous weapons, led by senior defender Lila Fiorita, a Hamilton commit who was last year's Gametime CT Player of the Year, and junior forward Adriana Gromelski, who is closing in on 50 points this season.

THE MORE THE MERRIER​

The CHSGHA tournament has expanded this season to include 14 teams, an additional two from previous years. The CHSGHA was formed in 2015 and the tournament expanded from eight to 12 teams for the 2017-18 season. The beneficiaries are No. 13 seed Stamford/Westhill/Staples (9-12) and No. 14 Mercy/Northwest Catholic (7-10-3), two teams who have been mainstays in the tournament for the past few seasons. Stamford/Westhill/Staples qualified with a dramatic win, beating Greenwich 3-2 in OT in the regular season finale. The CHSGHA runner-up just two years ago, SWS also gave top-seeded Darien all it could handle in the FCIAC semis on Wednesday before falling 4-2. The SWS co-op will square off against No. 4 Amity/North Haven/Cheshire in the first round. Mercy/Northwest Catholic's record is somewhat deceiving. The co-op started the season 0-4 and 1-6-1 before finishing with a 6-4-2 in mark in its final 10 games. Mercy/Northwest Catholic has played in eight one-goal games with a 4-4 record and has three ties, including a 2-2 deadlock with its first-round opponent, No. 3-seeded East Catholic.

WILD CARDS​

The CHSGHA tournament semifinals have been dominated by chalk the past three years, with just one team outside of the top four seeds reaching the final four. That team was the No. 5 Suffield co-op, which defeated No.4 Hall/Conard 3-2 in OT in last year's quarterfinals. Part of that has to do with the top four seeds receiving first-round byes, an advantage no longer in play for the third and fourth seeds with the expansion of the field. So which teams outside the top four stand the best chance at breaking through to the semifinals this season? For one, Hall/Conard, the sixth seed, is a live contender. The War Chiefs boast a strong goaltender with Lauren Busi, a top defender in Fiona Campbell and a high-scorer in forward Teagan Campbell. They're also battle-tested, having won back-to-back CCC championships. They'd face familiar league opponents in the first two rounds, first hosting Avon/Southington and then, should they win on Monday, taking on the winner of the East Catholic co-op vs. Mercy/Northwest Catholic game in the quarterfinals. Whoever makes it out of the first round game between No. 5 Wilton/Norwalk/McMahon and No. 12 Greenwich could be a tough out as well. Wilton has had a remarkable season, going from three wins last winter to a 12-5-2 record this year. Greenwich is 11-10-1 and has been hot of late, beating Wilton in the FCIAC first round and taking New Canaan to OT in a semifinal loss. One major bump for those two teams is possible quarterfinal opponent Amity/North Haven/Cheshire, the No. 4 seed. The Blades have had a great season at 15-4-3 and are coming off a tough OT loss to the Masuk co-op in the SCC final.

TOP PLAYERS​

Macyn Callahan, New Canaan, Jr., G:The junior is a three-year starter for the Rams and has already appeared in two CHSGHA finals, winning the MVP award with a 3-0 shutout of Stamford/Westhill/Staples in the 2024 title game. This season, she has a 12-2-1 record with a .968 save percentage and a 1.11 goals against average.

Maybelle Caron, Amity, Sr., F:The senior center is a steady weapon for the Blades, racking up 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points this season. That follows a junior season when she scored 18 goals and had 15 assists for 33 points.

Teagan Cohane, Hall/Conard, Sr., F: The first-line center has been lights out for Hall/Conard the past few seasons, and has followed a 34-point junior campaign with another 39 points on 19 goals and 20 assists this season. She's also a team-leader in blocks and faceoff winning percentage.

Lila Fiorita, Darien, Sr., D:The senior is a star defender with a scoring touch and will be playing at Hamilton next season. The reigning GametimeCT All-State Player of the Year, Fiorita has 35 points with 21 goals and 14 assists, and leads a defense which has allowed one or fewer goals in 14 of 21 games with seven shutouts.

Kasey Pierz, East Catholic, Sr., D: The senior veteran was named the CCC Player of the Year and has been a leader on a defense which has allowed one or fewer goals 14 times with seven shutouts. She's also topped 35 points and is the program's all-time leader in blocked shots.

STEWART'S PICKS​

FINAL FOUR: No. 1 Darien, No. 2 New Canaan, No. 5 Wilton/Norwalk/McMahon, No. 6 Hall/Conard

CHAMPIONSHIP:Darien over New Canaan

This article originally published at 2026 CHSGHA Girls High School Ice Hockey State Tournament storylines, top players and predictions.

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