NCAA Division III women's ice hockey tournament

NCAA Division III women's ice hockey tournament
SportCollege ice hockey
Number of teams11
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Current stadiumHunt Arena
Current locationRiver Falls, Wisconsin
Played2002–present
Last contest2024
Current championWisconsin–River Falls (1)
Most championshipsPlattsburgh State (7)
TV partner(s)NCAA.com
Official websitehttps://www.ncaa.com/sports/icehockey-women/d3

The annual NCAA Division III women's ice hockey tournament is a college ice hockey tournament held in the United States by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the top women's team in the NCAA. The 2020 and 2021 championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

Origins

The NCAA Division III championship of women's ice hockey began in 2002.

NCAA Division III women's ice hockey

Main article: NCAA Division III women's ice hockey

Seventy-one schools in the United States, ranging from the Midwest to the East Coast, sponsor varsity women's hockey at the Division III level. Eight conferences are currently recognized by the NCAA—Colonial Hockey Conference, Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, New England Hockey Conference, New England Small College Athletic Conference, Northeast Women's Hockey League, Northern Collegiate Hockey Association, United Collegiate Hockey Conference, and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Format

This tournament is a single elimination competition of ten teams. The semi-finals and finals are called the "Women's Frozen Four." The winners of the semi-finals move on to the championship, where the losers play in the third place game.

History

Year Champion[2] Coach Score Runner-up Coach City Arena
2002 Elmira Jamie Wood 2–1 Manhattanville Nicole Kirnan Elmira, New York First Arena
2003 Elmira (2) Jamie Wood 5–1 Manhattanville Nicole Kirnan Elmira, New York First Arena
2004 Middlebury Bill Mandigo 2–1 Wisconsin–Stevens Point Brian Idalski Middlebury, Vermont Chip Kenyon Arena
2005 Middlebury (2) Bill Mandigo 4–3 Elmira Paul Nemetz-Carlson Elmira, New York First Arena
2006 Middlebury (3) Bill Mandigo 3–1 Plattsburgh State Kevin Houle Plattsburgh, New York Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena
2007 Plattsburgh State Kevin Houle 2–1 Middlebury Bill Mandigo Plattsburgh, New York Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena
2008 Plattsburgh State (2) Kevin Houle 3–2 Manhattanville Lauren McAuliffe Plattsburgh, New York Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena
2009 Amherst Jim Plumer 4–3 (ot) Elmira Greg Fargo Middlebury, Vermont Chip Kenyon Arena
2010 Amherst (2) Jim Plumer 7–2 Norwich Mark Bolding St. Peter, Minnesota Lund Arena
2011 Norwich Mark Bolding 5–2 RIT Scott McDonald Rochester, New York Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena
2012 RIT Scott McDonald 4–1 Norwich Mark Bolding Rochester, New York Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena
2013 Elmira (3) Dean Jackson 1–0 Middlebury Bill Mandigo Superior, Wisconsin Superior Ice Arena
2014 Plattsburgh State (3) Kevin Houle 9–2 Norwich Mark Bolding Plattsburgh, New York Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena
2015 Plattsburgh State (4) Kevin Houle 3–2 Elmira Dean Jackson Plattsburgh, New York Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena
2016 Plattsburgh State (5) Kevin Houle 5–1 Wisconsin–River Falls Joe Cranston Plattsburgh, New York Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena
2017 Plattsburgh State (6) Kevin Houle 4–3 (ot) Adrian Chad Davis Adrian, Michigan Arrington Ice Arena
2018 Norwich (2) Mark Bolding 2–1 Elmira Tim Crowley Northfield, Vermont Kreitzberg Arena
2019 Plattsburgh State (7) Kevin Houle 4–0 Hamline Natalie Darwitz Mendota Heights, Minnesota St. Thomas Ice Arena
2020 Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021
2022 Middlebury (4) Bill Mandigo 3–2 (ot) Gustavus Adolphus Mike Carroll Middlebury, Vermont Chip Kenyon Arena
2023 Gustavus Adolphus Mike Carroll 2–1 (3ot) Amherst Jeff Mathews Amherst, Massachusetts Orr Rink
2024 Wisconsin–River Falls Joe Cranston 4–1 Elmira Greg Haney River Falls, Wisconsin Hunt Arena
2025 River Falls, Wisconsin Hunt Arena

Team titles

Team # Years
Plattsburgh State 7 2007, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019
Middlebury 4 2004, 2005, 2006, 2022
Elmira 3 2002, 2003, 2013
Amherst 2 2009, 2010
Norwich 2 2011, 2018
Gustavus Adolphus 1 2023
RIT 1 2012
Wisconsin–River Falls 1 2024

Result by school and year

32 teams have appeared in the NCAA DIII Tournament in at least one year starting with 2002. The results for all years are shown in this table below.

The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament:

  •  •  Opening round (did not exist until 2018)
    •  x  2 teams who lost in 2020 before the tournament was canceled.
  •  QF  Quarterfinals
    •  x  8 teams selected in 2020 who were in the quarterfinals before the tournament was canceled.
  •  F4  Frozen Four
  •  RU  National Runner-up
  •  CH  National Champion
School Conference
as of 2024 		# F4 CG CH 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 24

Plattsburgh State SUNYAC 19 15 8 7 F4 F4 RU CH CH QF QF F4 F4 CH CH CH CH F4 CH x F4 F4 QF
Middlebury NESCAC 19 10 6 4 QF QF CH CH CH RU QF F4 F4 QF RU QF F4 QF QF x CH QF F4
Elmira NEHC 18 12 8 3 CH CH QF RU QF F4 RU F4 CH QF RU F4 QF RU QF x F4 RU
Amherst NESCAC 9 4 3 2 F4 QF CH CH QF QF x RU QF
Norwich NEHC 11 7 5 2 QF RU CH RU QF RU F4 F4 CH • x •
Gustavus Adolphus MIAC 17 10 2 1 F4 QF F4 F4 QF QF QF F4 F4 F4 F4 F4 • x RU CH QF
RIT moved to NC 3 2 2 1 QF RU CH
Wisconsin–River Falls WIAC 9 6 1 1 F4 F4 QF QF QF QF F4 F4 RU QF QF x QF QF CH
Manhattanville UCHC 8 4 3 0 RU RU F4 QF QF QF RU QF
Wisconsin–Stevens Point WIAC 5 3 1 0 RU QF F4 F4 QF
Adrian MIAA 6 3 1 0 QF QF RU QF F4 x QF F4
Hamline MIAC 2 2 1 0 RU F4
St. Thomas moved to NC 6 2 0 0 QF F4 QF QF QF F4
Bowdoin NESCAC 5 2 0 0 F4 F4 QF QF QF
Hamilton NESCAC 2 1 0 0 F4 QF
Wisconsin–Superior WIAC 2 1 0 0 QF F4
Wisconsin–Eau Clare WIAC 4 0 0 0 QF QF x QF
Williams NESCAC 3 0 0 0 QF QF •
Endicott CCC 3 0 0 0 • x QF
Nazareth UCHC 3 0 0 0 • QF •
Trinity NESCAC 2 0 0 0 QF QF
Lake Forest Midwest 2 0 0 0 QF QF
Colby NESCAC 2 0 0 0 QF QF
Saint Mary's MIAC 1 0 0 0 QF
Concordia MIAC 1 0 0 0 QF
St. Norbert NACC 1 0 0 0 QF
UMass Boston NEHC 1 0 0 0 QF
Morrisville State SUNYAC 1 0 0 0 QF
Aurora NACC 1 0 0 0 •
Suffolk CCC 1 0 0 0 •
Cortland SUNYAC 1 0 0 0 •
Western New England CCC 1 0 0 0 •

See also

References

  1. ^ Staff, USCHO (2022-03-08). "After no championship since 2019, women's college hockey Division III national tournament returns with 10-team field for 2022". College Hockey | USCHO.com. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  2. ^ "DIII Women's Ice Hockey Championship History | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2022-03-12.