NCAA Division III women's ice hockey tournament

Last updated
NCAA Division III women's ice hockey tournament
Sport College ice hockey
Number of teams12
Format Single-elimination tournament
Current stadiumHunt Arena
Current location River Falls, Wisconsin
Played2002–present
Last contest 2024
Current championWisconsin–River Falls (1)
Most championshipsPlattsburgh State (7)
TV partner(s)NCAA.co m
Official website https://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]

Contents

Origins

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

NCAA Division III women's ice hockey

Seventy-eight schools in the United States, ranging from the Midwest to the East Coast, sponsor varsity women's hockey at the Division III level. Ten conferences are currently recognized by the NCAA—Conference of New England, Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, Middle Atlantic Conferences, Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, New England Hockey Conference, New England Small College Athletic Conference, Northern Collegiate Hockey Association, State University of New York Athletic Conference, United Collegiate Hockey Conference, and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. As of 2025, eight of the conferences receive automatic bids into the tournament. There are currently two independent teams as of the 2024—2025 season.

Format

This tournament is a single elimination competition of twelve teams. The first round and quarterfinals are hosted at the campuses of the higher seeds. The semi-finals and finals are called the "Women's Frozen Four." The winners of the semi-finals move on to the championship.

History

YearChampion [2] CoachScoreRunner-upCoachCityArena
2002 Elmira Jamie Wood2–1 Manhattanville Nicole Kirnan Elmira, New York First Arena
2003Elmira (2)Jamie Wood5–1ManhattanvilleNicole KirnanElmira, New YorkFirst Arena
2004 Middlebury Bill Mandigo2–1 Wisconsin–Stevens Point Brian Idalski Middlebury, Vermont Chip Kenyon Arena
2005Middlebury (2)Bill Mandigo4–3ElmiraPaul Nemetz-CarlsonElmira, New YorkFirst Arena
2006Middlebury (3)Bill Mandigo3–1 Plattsburgh State Kevin Houle Plattsburgh, New York Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena
2007Plattsburgh StateKevin Houle2–1MiddleburyBill MandigoPlattsburgh, New YorkRonald B. Stafford Ice Arena
2008Plattsburgh State (2)Kevin Houle3–2ManhattanvilleLauren McAuliffePlattsburgh, New YorkRonald B. Stafford Ice Arena
2009 Amherst Jim Plumer 4–3 (ot)Elmira Greg Fargo Middlebury, VermontChip Kenyon Arena
2010Amherst (2) Jim Plumer 7–2 Norwich Mark Bolding St. Peter, Minnesota Lund Arena
2011Norwich Mark Bolding 5–2 RIT Scott McDonald Rochester, New York Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena
2012RITScott McDonald4–1Norwich Mark Bolding Rochester, New YorkFrank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena
2013Elmira (3)Dean Jackson1–0MiddleburyBill Mandigo Superior, Wisconsin Superior Ice Arena
2014Plattsburgh State (3)Kevin Houle9–2Norwich Mark Bolding Plattsburgh, New YorkRonald B. Stafford Ice Arena
2015Plattsburgh State (4)Kevin Houle3–2ElmiraDean JacksonPlattsburgh, New YorkRonald B. Stafford Ice Arena
2016Plattsburgh State (5)Kevin Houle5–1 Wisconsin–River Falls Joe CranstonPlattsburgh, New YorkRonald B. Stafford Ice Arena
2017Plattsburgh State (6)Kevin Houle4–3 (ot) Adrian Chad Davis Adrian, Michigan Arrington Ice Arena
2018Norwich (2) Mark Bolding 2–1ElmiraTim Crowley Northfield, Vermont Kreitzberg Arena
2019Plattsburgh State (7)Kevin Houle4–0 Hamline Natalie Darwitz Mendota Heights, Minnesota St. Thomas Ice Arena
2020Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021
2022Middlebury (4)Bill Mandigo3–2 (ot) Gustavus Adolphus Mike CarrollMiddlebury, VermontChip Kenyon Arena
2023Gustavus AdolphusMike Carroll2–1 (3ot)AmherstJeff Mathews Amherst, Massachusetts Orr Rink
2024 Wisconsin–River FallsJoe Cranston4–1ElmiraGreg Haney River Falls, Wisconsin Hunt Arena
2025 River Falls, WisconsinHunt Arena
2026TBD
2027Plattsburgh, New York [3] Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena
2028TBD

Team titles

USA Midwest and Northeast.svg
ButtonBlue.svg
Plattsburgh State
ButtonViolet.svg
Middlebury
ButtonYellow.svg
Elmira
ButtonPink.svg
Amherst
ButtonPink.svg
Norwich
ButtonLightBlue.svg
Gustavus Adolphus
ButtonLightBlue.svg
RIT
ButtonLightBlue.svg
Wisconsin–River Falls
Schools that have won the NCAA Championship
ButtonBlue.svg 7, ButtonViolet.svg 4, ButtonYellow.svg 3, ButtonPink.svg 2, ButtonLightBlue.svg 1
Team#Years
Plattsburgh State 72007, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019
Middlebury 42004, 2005, 2006, 2022
Elmira 32002, 2003, 2013
Amherst 22009, 2010
Norwich 2011, 2018
Gustavus Adolphus 12023
RIT 2012
Wisconsin–River Falls 2024

Result by school and year

34 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:

SchoolConference
as of 2025
#QFF4CGCH 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 24 25

Plattsburgh State SUNYAC 20191587F4F4RUCHCHQFQFF4F4CHCHCHCHF4CHXF4F4QFFR
Middlebury NESCAC 20201064QFQFCHCHCHRUQFF4F4QFRUQFF4QFQFXCHQFF4TBD
Elmira NEHC 19191283CHCHQFRUQFF4RUF4CHQFRUF4QFRUQFXF4RUTBD
Amherst NESCAC 109432F4QFCHCHQFQFXRUQFTBD
Norwich NEHC 1210752QFRUCHRUQFRUF4F4CHFRXFR
Gustavus Adolphus MIAC 18151021F4QFF4F4QFQFQFF4F4F4F4F4FRXRUCHQFFR
RIT moved to NC33221QFRUCH
Wisconsin–River Falls WIAC 1616611F4F4QFQFQFQFF4F4RUQFQFXQFQFCHTBD
Manhattanville UCHC 88430RURUF4QFQFQFRUQF
Wisconsin–Stevens Point WIAC 55310RUQFF4F4QF
Adrian NCHA 88310QFQFRUQFF4XQFF4
Hamline MIAC 22210RUF4
Bowdoin NESCAC 55200F4F4QFQFQF
St. Thomas moved to NC66200QFF4QFQFQFF4
Wisconsin–Superior WIAC 22100QFF4
Hamilton NESCAC 22100F4QF
Wisconsin–Eau Clare WIAC 44000QFQFXQF
Endicott CNE 42000FRXQFFR
Nazareth UCHC 42000FRQFFRTBD
Colby NESCAC 33000QFQFTBD
Williams NESCAC 32000QFQFFR
Trinity NESCAC 22000QFQF
St. Norbert NCHA 22000QFTBD
Lake Forest NCHA 22000QFQF
Saint Mary's MIAC 11000QF
Concordia MIAC 11000QF
UMass Boston NEHC 11000QF
Morrisville State SUNYAC 11000QF
Augsburg MIAC 11000TBD
Aurora NCHA 10000FR
Suffolk CNE 10000FR
Cortland SUNYAC 10000FR
Western New England CNE 10000FR
Wilkes MAC 10000FR

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 2025-03-05.
  3. "NCAA Division III women's hockey tournament". USCHO.com | NCAA. Retrieved 2025-03-05.