The 2017 NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament was a tournament to determine the Division III national champion in women’s ice hockey. This was the eighteenth time a national championship tournament at the Division III level had been held and was the sixteenth one sanctioned by the NCAA.
Format
Eight teams qualify for the single elimination tournament. The conference tournament champions of the ECAC West, MIAC, NCHA, NEHC, and NESCAC received automatic bids to the tournament. Three at-large bids were also selected, two of which come from the aforementioned automatic-qualifier conferences.
The NCAA exercised the rule that the championship shall not be held in the same region more than three times in a period of four consecutive years. Because of three prior eastern Frozen Fours, the semifinal and final rounds were forced to be played in the western region. The first round games were held at campus sites on March 10 and 11. The semifinal and final rounds were held March 17 and 18 at Arrington Ice Arena, of Adrian College, the highest remaining seed in the western region.
Bids
Automatic Bids
- Eastern College Athletic Conference West champion: Plattsburgh Cardinals (13th appearance)
- Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion: St. Thomas Tommies (5th appearance)
- New England Hockey Conference champion: Norwich Cadets (8th appearance)
- New England Small College Athletic Conference champion: Middlebury Panthers (14th appearance^^)
- Northern Collegiate Hockey Association champion: Adrian Bulldogs (3rd appearance)
At-Large Bids
Pool B (Teams from non-AQ conferences)
- Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons – WIAC* (10th appearance)
Pool C (Teams from all conferences)
- Elmira Soaring Eagles – ECAC West (13th appearance)
- Gustavus Adolphus Golden Gusties – MIAC (12th appearance^)
^ = Middlebury appeared in the 2 AWCHA tournaments that predated the NCAA tournament
^ = Gustavus appeared in 1 of 2 AWCHA tournaments that predated the NCAA tournament
* = WIAC did not receive an automatic bid in its first season, making them a pool B conference
Misc.
- Six of the eight schools who earned bids appeared in the previous season’s NCAA tournament.
- This is the 9th of 9 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for UW-River Falls.
- This is the 6th of an active 14 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance streak for Plattsburgh.
- This is the 5th of 9 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Elmira.
- This is the 4th of 4 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for St. Thomas.
- This is the 3rd of 4 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Middlebury.
- This is the 2nd of 5 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Adrian.
- This is the 1st of 4 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Norwich.
- Gustavus makes the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013.
- The MIAC gets two bids into the tournament field for just the third time, and the first since 2012.
- The ECAC West earns multiple bids for the sixth consecutive season.
- The Frozen Four is played in the west region for just the third time.
- Adrian becomes the 7th school to host the Frozen Four.
- This becomes the fourth instance where a team needs to be flown before the semifinal round due to geography (St. Thomas’ 2nd instance).
- This year’s selection committee consisted of:
- Katie Boldvich (chair) (CHC and NEHC commissioner)
- Stephanie Dutton (Plattsburgh assistant AD)
- Bill Mandigo (Middlebury head coach)
- Michelle Morgan (St. Thomas associate AD)
- Jackie Slaats (Lake Forest associate AD)
Seeding
East
- Plattsburgh (25-1-1)
- Middlebury (19-6-2)
- Norwich (22-5-1)
- Elmira (18-5-4)
West
- Adrian (26-2-0)
- UW-River Falls (26-2-0)
- Gustavus (17-6-3)
- St. Thomas (14-10-4)
Results
Quarterfinals
Held at campus sites
-Hunt Arena- River Falls, WI
-Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena- Plattsburgh, NY
-Chip Kenyon ’85 Arena- Middlebury, VT
-Arrington Ice Arena- Adrian, MI
Semifinals
Hosted by Adrian College: Arrington Ice Arena- Adrian, MI
Third Place
Hosted by Adrian College: Arrington Ice Arena- Adrian, MI
Championship
Hosted by Adrian College: Arrington Ice Arena- Adrian, MI
2017 NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey National Champion Plattsburgh Cardinals
Bracket
Tournament Notes
- Plattsburgh wins its sixth NCAA national championship, most of all time.
- Plattsburgh wins four consecutive championships, the first to ever do so.
- This becomes the first Plattsburgh national championship to be won away from home.
- Adrian finishes 2nd, the highest in program history, and becomes the second consecutive west team to reach the title game.
- Gustavus reaches its eighth Frozen Four, and finishes third for the third time in program history.
- Norwich advances to its sixth national semifinal, and finishes fourth for the second time program history.
- Plattsburgh’s championship marks the sixth straight title won by an ECAC West team.
- RIT: 2012; Elmira: 2013; Plattsburgh: 2014, 2015, 2016
- St. Thomas loses its third straight quarterfinal game.
- River Falls fails to win its quarterfinal game after winning its previous three.
- 4 of the 8 NCAA Tournament games go to overtime, a new record.
- Adrian becomes the first non-neutral host school to not win the national title since RIT in 2011.
Statistics
Skaters
Top Scorers |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Pos. | Yr. | GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | SOG |
| Kaylyn Schroka | Adrian | F | Sr. | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 14 |
| Megan Crandell | Plattsburgh | D | Jr. | 3 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| Melissa Sheeran | Plattsburgh | F | Jr. | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 19 |
| Kristin Lewicki | Adrian | F | Sr. | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| Erica Power | Gustavus | F | Jr. | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 16 |
| Erin Brand | Plattsburgh | D | Sr. | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 20 |
| Sarah Shureb | Adrian | F | Sr. | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 12 |
| Adelle Murphy | Norwich | F | Sr. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
| Kayla Meneghin | Plattsburgh | F | Jr. | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| Mackenzie Millen | Plattsburgh | F | So. | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 8 |
| Brooke Lupi | Adrian | F | So. | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 15 |
| Kim Tiberi | Norwich | D | Jr. | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 10 | |
| Sydney Smith | Adrian | D | Sr. | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 16 |
| Emily Gustafson | Gustavus | F | Sr. | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | -2 | 4 | 7 |
Goaltending
Top Goaltenders (minimum 110 minutes played) |
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Yr. | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| Camille Leonard | Plattsburgh | Sr. | 3 | 3 | 0 | 83 | 5 | 1.58 | .940 | 1 | 190:20 |
| Amanda DiNella | Gustavus | So. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 118 | 6 | 1.86 | .949 | 0 | 193:13 |
| Brooke Gibson | Adrian | Sr. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 124 | 9 | 2.68 | .927 | 0 | 201:33 |
| Laurie King | Norwich | Jr. | 2 | 1 | 1 | 96 | 8 | 3.37 | .917 | 0 | 142:16 |
All-Tournament Team
- F: Emily Gustafson- Gustavus
- F: Kristin Lewicki- Adrian
- F: Melissa Sheeran- Plattsburgh
- F: Sarah Shureb- Adrian
- D: Erin Brand- Plattsburgh (MVP)
- G: Camille Leonard- Plattsburgh
