The 2020 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 twenty-first time a national championship tournament at the Division III level had been held and was the nineteenth one sanctioned by the NCAA. The first round games were played, but the tournament never finished due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Cancellation

On March 12, 2020, the NCAA released the following statement: “Today, NCAA President Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors canceled the Division I men’s and women’s 2020 basketball tournaments, as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships. This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities.”

Format

Ten teams qualify for the single elimination tournament. The conference tournament champions of the CHC, MIAC, NCHA, NEHC, NESCAC, NEWHL, and UCHC received automatic bids to the tournament. Three at-large bids were also selected, one guaranteed to a school from a non-automatic-qualifier conference. This is the first year in which the UCHC was eligible for its own automatic bid. The first round games were held at campus sites on March 11. The quarterfinal games were to be held at campus sites on March 14. The semifinal and final rounds were to be held March 20 and 21 at the highest remaining seed in the tournament.

Bids

Automatic Bids

At-Large Bids

Pool B (Teams from non-AQ conferences)

Pool C (Teams from all conferences)

^^ = 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 with only five teams, making them a pool B conference

Misc.

  • Seven of the ten schools who earned bids appeared in the previous season’s NCAA tournament.
  • This is the 9th of an active 14 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance streak for Plattsburgh.
  • This is the 8th of 9 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Elmira.
  • This is the 5th of 5 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Adrian.
  • This is the 4th of 4 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Norwich.
  • This is the 3rd of 4 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for UW-Eau Claire.
  • This is the 2nd of an active 7 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance streak for UW-River Falls.
  • This is the 1st of 5 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Gustavus.
  • This is the 1st of 5 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Middlebury.
  • The WIAC gets two bids in back-to-back seasons.
  • The NESCAC gets two bids for the first time since 2016.
  • First Round games took place on Wednesday, March 11, the night the NBA, NHL and other NCAA sporting events began to be cancelled.

Seeding (Determined by Pairwise Rankings)

  1. Plattsburgh (26-1-0)
  2. Middlebury (21-3-3)
  3. Endicott (25-2-0)
  4. UW-Eau Claire (22-4-2)
  5. UW-River Falls (21-5-2)
  6. Gustavus (22-3-2)
  7. Elmira (22-4-2)
  8. Amherst (17-5-5)
  9. Norwich (22-4-2)
  10. Adrian (22-3-3)

Results

First Round

Held at campus sites

-Orr Rink- Amherst, MA

-Hunt Arena- River Falls, WI

Quarterfinals (did not play)

Held at campus sites

-Chip Kenyon ’85 Arena- Middlebury, VT

-Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena- Plattsburgh, NY

-Murray Athletic Center Arena- Horseheads, NY

-Hobbs Ice Center- Eau Claire, WI

Remainder of tournament cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

Bracket