2018 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey tournament

2018 NCAA Division III men's
ice hockey tournament
Teams12
Finals site
ChampionsSt. Norbert Green Knights (5th title)
Runner-upSalve Regina Seahawks (1st title game)
Semifinalists
Winning coachTim Coghlin (5th title)
MOPTanner Froese (St. Norbert)
Attendance10,933

The 2018 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 2017–18 season, the 35th such tournament in NCAA history. It concluded with St. Norbert defeating Salve Regina in the championship game 3-2 in double overtime. All First Round and Quarterfinal matchups were held at home team venues, while all succeeding games were played at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York.

Qualifying teams

Twelve teams qualified for the tournament in the following ways: (Pool A) seven teams received bids as a result of being conference tournament champions from conferences that possessed an automatic bid. (Pool B) one team was selected from two conferences that did not possess an automatic bid. (Pool C) four teams from conferences that possessed an automatic bid received at-large invitations based upon their records.[1]

East West
Seed School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid Seed School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid
1 Salve Regina CCC 20–5–2 At–Large (C) 2nd 2016 1 St. Norbert NCHA 24–4–1 Tournament Champion 18th 2017
2 University of New England CCC 20–5–3 At–Large (C) 1st Never 2 Adrian NCHA 24–5–0 At–Large (C) 8th 2017
3 Hobart NEHC 18–5–5 Tournament Champion 8th 2017 3 Wisconsin–Stevens Point WIAC 20–5–3 At–Large (B) 14th 2017
4 Nichols CCC 17–8–3 Tournament Champion 4th 2015 4 Augsburg MIAC 18–9–0 Tournament Champion 5th 2017
5 Fitchburg State MASCAC 18–6–3 Tournament Champion 1st Never 5 Marian NCHA 20–7–1 At–Large (C) 1st Never
6 Geneseo State SUNYAC 19–5–3 Tournament Champion 6th 2016
7 Colby NESCAC 15–10–2 Tournament Champion 2nd 1996

Format

The tournament featured four rounds of play. All rounds were Single-game elimination.

Because at least four western teams qualified, the tournament was arranged so that there were two eastern and two western quarterfinal brackets. The top two teams from each region were placed in separate quarterfinal brackets and then arranged so that were all to reach the semifinals the top western seed would play the second eastern seed and vice versa.

Since five western teams and seven eastern teams qualified for the tournament, three western teams received byes into the quarterfinal round while one eastern team was advanced to the second round. In the first round, the fourth- and fifth-seeded western teams played with the winner advancing to play the top western seed. The second- and third-seeded western teams would play one another in the other western quarterfinal bracket.

The eastern teams were arranged so that the second seed would play the seventh seed, the third seed would play the sixth seed and the fourth seed would play the fifth seed. The winner between the fourth- and fifth-seeded eastern teams would play the top eastern seed while the winner between the third- and sixth-seeded eastern teams would play the victor of the second- and seventh-seeded match.

In the First Round and Quarterfinals the higher-seeded team served as host.

Tournament Bracket

First Round
March 10 		Quarterfinals
March 17 		Semifinals
March 23 		National Championship
March 24
            
W2 Adrian 2
W3 Wisconsin–Stevens Point 5
W3 Wisconsin–Stevens Point 0
E1 Salve Regina 3
E4 Nichols 3
E5 Fitchburg State 1
E1 Salve Regina 4
E4 Nichols 3
E1 Salve Regina 2
W1 St. Norbert (1) 3**
W4 Augsburg 3
W5 Marian 1
W1 St. Norbert (1) 5
W4 Augsburg 2
W1 St. Norbert (1) 4
E7 Colby 3
E2 University of New England 2
E7 Colby 4
E7 Colby 2
E6 Geneseo State 1
E3 Hobart 2
E6 Geneseo State 4

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

All-Tournament Team

  • G: Blake Wojtala (Salve Regina)
  • D: Luke Davison (St. Norbert)
  • D: Vincenzo Renda (Salve Regina)
  • F: Dominick Sacco (St. Norbert)
  • F: Erik Udahl (Salve Regina)
  • F: Tanner Froese* (St. Norbert)

* Most Outstanding Player(s)

Record by conference

Conference # of Bids Record Win % Frozen Four Championship Game Champions
NCHA 3 3–2 .600 1 1 1
CCC 3 3–3 .500 1 1 -
NESCAC 1 2–1 .667 1 - -
WIAC 1 1–1 .500 1 - -
SUNYAC 1 1–1 .500 - - -
MIAC 1 1–1 .500 - - -
NEHC 1 0–1 .000 - - -
MASCAC 1 0–1 .000 - - -

References

  1. ^ "NCAA Division III men's hockey tournament". USCHO.com. Retrieved September 18, 2019.