This winter marks the 20th anniversary of the 2001 women's hockey American Women's College Hockey Alliance (AWCHA) National Championship, the second-straight for the Panthers. Middlebury also captured the ECAC Title that season and were declared the NESCAC Champions as well, based on the regular-season standings. The following year, the NCAA held its inaugural tournament.
 
Head Coach Bill Mandigo was in his 13th season at the time, earning ECAC Coach of the Year honors, while being named the National Coach of the Year by the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA).
 
Middlebury finished the 2000-2001 season with a 23-1-1 record, going 17-0-1 in ECAC/NESCAC play. The team's lone loss came at the hands of Division I Boston College. The Panthers surrendered just 19 goals in 25 games, while averaging 4.9 goals/game.
 
Middlebury blanked Williams 3-0 to capture the ECAC Title with a pair of goals from senior Michelle Labbe. In the AWCHA national semifinals against St. Mary's (Minn.), Labbe broke a 1-1 tie with a goal in the third period to give the Panthers the lead and eventual 3-1 victory. Middlebury held a decisive 44-12 shots advantage in the contest. In the title game, the Panthers led Gustavus Adolphus 2-0 after the first period before putting the game away with three in the second en route to the convincing 6-0 win in Rochester, New York. Labbe and sophomore Angela Kapus each scored twice in the win.
 
The Panthers were led in scoring by Labbe, a Middlebury Athletics Hall of Famer, who scored 27 goals and assisted on 34 others for 61 points during her senior year. The three-time All-American was named the AHCA National Player of the Year at the conclusion of the season. She accumulated a school-record 132 assists in 105 games and finished her career with 108 goals, which is second all-time at Middlebury. 

Behind her in the scoring column were sophomore twins Erin (16-28-44) and Amber (13-18-31) Neil, followed by Kapus (14-13-27) and junior Catherine Elkins (6-19-25). Junior Megan Hutchinson was 16-1 in goal with a 0.77 GAA and a .931 save percentage, while rookie Kati Madouras also had impressive numbers (7-0-1, 0.74 GAA, .919 SV%).
 
This year also marks the 15th anniversary of the 2006 NCAA Championship team.