| NCAA Division III women's ice hockey tournament | |
|---|---|
| Sport | College ice hockey |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament |
| Current stadium | Hunt Arena |
| Current location | River Falls, Wisconsin |
| Played | 2002–present |
| Last contest | 2025 |
| Current champion | Wisconsin–River Falls (2) |
| Most championships | Plattsburgh State (7) |
| TV partner(s) | NCAA.com |
| 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]
The NCAA Division III championship of women's ice hockey began in 2002.
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.
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.
| 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 | Wisconsin–River Falls (2) | Joe Cranston | 3–1 | Amherst | Jeff Mathews | River Falls, Wisconsin | Hunt Arena |
| 2026 | TBD | ||||||
| 2027 | Plattsburgh, New York [3] | Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena | |||||
| 2028 | TBD | ||||||
| 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 | 2011, 2018 | |
| Wisconsin–River Falls | 2024, 2025 | |
| Gustavus Adolphus | 1 | 2023 |
| RIT | 2012 |
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:
| School | Conference as of 2025 | # | QF | F4 | TP | CG | CH | 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 | 20 | 19 | 15 | 4 | 8 | 7 | TP | F4 | RU | CH | CH | QF | QF | TP | TP | CH | CH | CH | CH | F4 | CH | X | TP | F4 | QF | FR | |||
| Middlebury | NESCAC | 20 | 20 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 4 | QF | QF | CH | CH | CH | RU | QF | TP | TP | QF | RU | QF | F4 | QF | QF | X | CH | QF | F4 | F4 | |||
| Elmira | NEHC | 19 | 19 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 3 | CH | CH | QF | RU | QF | TP | RU | TP | CH | QF | RU | TP | QF | RU | QF | X | F4 | RU | QF | ||||
| Amherst | NESCAC | 10 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 2 | F4 | QF | CH | CH | QF | QF | X | RU | QF | RU | |||||||||||||
| Norwich | NEHC | 12 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | QF | RU | CH | RU | QF | RU | F4 | F4 | CH | FR | X | FR | |||||
| Wisconsin–River Falls | WIAC | 16 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | F4 | F4 | QF | QF | QF | QF | TP | TP | RU | QF | QF | X | QF | QF | CH | CH | |||||||
| Gustavus Adolphus | MIAC | 18 | 15 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | TP | QF | TP | F4 | QF | QF | QF | F4 | F4 | F4 | F4 | TP | FR | X | RU | CH | QF | FR | |||||
| RIT | moved to NC | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | QF | RU | CH | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||||||
| Manhattanville | UCHC | 8 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | RU | RU | F4 | QF | QF | QF | RU | QF | |||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin–Stevens Point | WIAC | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | RU | QF | TP | TP | QF | ||||||||||||||||||
| Adrian | NCHA | 8 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | QF | QF | RU | QF | TP | X | QF | F4 | |||||||||
| Hamline | MIAC | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | TP | RU | ||||||||||||||
| Bowdoin | NESCAC | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | F4 | TP | QF | QF | QF | ||||||||||||||||||
| St. Thomas | moved to NC | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | QF | F4 | QF | QF | QF | F4 | – | – | – | – | |||||||||||||
| Wisconsin–Superior | WIAC | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | QF | F4 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton | NESCAC | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | F4 | QF | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Augsburg | MIAC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | F4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin–Eau Clare | WIAC | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | QF | QF | X | QF | |||||||||||||||||||
| Endicott | CNE | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | FR | X | QF | FR | |||||
| Nazareth | UCHC | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | FR | QF | FR | QF | ||
| Colby | NESCAC | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | QF | QF | QF | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Williams | NESCAC | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | QF | QF | FR | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Trinity | NESCAC | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | QF | QF | |||||||||||||||||||||
| St. Norbert | NCHA | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | QF | QF | ||||||||||||
| Lake Forest | NCHA | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | QF | QF | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Saint Mary's | MIAC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | QF | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Concordia (MN) | MIAC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | QF | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| UMass Boston | NEHC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | QF | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Morrisville State | SUNYAC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | QF | ||||||||
| Aurora | NCHA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | FR | ||||||
| Suffolk | CNE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | FR | |||||
| Cortland | SUNYAC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | FR | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western New England | CNE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | FR | |||
| Wilkes | MAC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | FR |
The following is a list of current Division III teams that have yet to make a tournament appearance.
