Welcome back! In case you missed Part 1 yesterday, I linked it her for you to check out!
Time to dig into five more conferences, starting with the NEHC.
NEHC
In what’s most likely the final season of the NEHC, it’s been a bit of an odd season overall. The conference has really struggled in many of their non-conference games, as many programs are not quite having the exact season they would hope to have.
This obviously starts with two of the blue bloods in the sport: Norwich & Elmira. Although they are playing well (for the most part) in NEHC play, they probably should be given their talent. The Cadets and Soaring Eagles went just 4-10 in non-conference play between the two. This leads to neither of them being ranked, which still is an odd sight to see. Nevertheless, Elmira had a similar situation last year, and look how that turned out. One playoff run can change the entire trajectory of a program. Let’s see what 2025 has in store.
With four games remaining for everyone, there is still 12 points on the table for everyone. The top 8 teams make playoffs, with the top four earning home games in the quarterfinals. The top six of Norwich, Salve Regina, Elmira, William Smith, UMB, and Southern Maine have all clinched bids thus far. So, we’ve got four teams fighting for two spots.
Remaining Schedules
The Contenders:
These are the three squads who mathematically have a chance at winning the regular season title. However, with an eight point lead, and a schedule that features the two bottom teams in the standings, Norwich appears to have this one on ice. Salve and Elmira will be trying to accumulate as many points as possible though, in order to stay out of a first round away game, while also potentially trying to earn home ice in a semifinal game.
Playing for Seeding:
This is going to be quite the last 2 weeks. With at least one of these teams getting home ice, the fact that UMass Boston is playing both their primary contenders is going to really showcase who is deserving of home ice. With Salve being the other team that both USM and WSC plays, there’s a strong chance one of them could potentially catch the Seahawks. This is exactly the kind of hockey everyone loves to see heading down the home stretch. What’s even funnier is that more likely than not, two of these teams will be facing off in Round 1. One note I will add, the Beacons of UMB are mired in an absolute freefall of a slump at the moment, going 1-10-1 in their last 12. Luckily, they can erase that this weekend with two huge games against the Huskies.
The Playoff Bubble:
With only two of the four getting in, it is amusing that each of them has one of the two blue bloods, as Castleton and AM get Elmira, while Salem and NEC get Norwich. Then, in the other series, they play against one of the schools they are battling against. It isn’t quite fair to place Castleton in this group though, as they are definitely on a higher tier than the other three. I just had to put them here, as they haven’t clinched just yet.
However, if NEC upsets them twice this weekend, we have a whole new ballgame at that point. The Albertus at Salem series the last weekend will also be quite crucial. The most likely scenario is Salem State can fend off the others assuming they can take advantage of home ice. But the likeliest scenario is not always the outcome.
My Call:
- Norwich (Conference Champion & Quarterfinal Home Game)
- Elmira (Quarterfinal Home Game)
- William Smith (Quarterfinal Home Game)
- Salve Regina (Quarterfinal Home Game)
- Southern Maine (Playoff Berth)
- UMass Boston (Playoff Berth)
- Castleton (Playoff Berth)
- Albertus Magnus (Playoff Berth)
- Salem State
- New England College
NESCAC
For the last 3 or 4 years, the NESCAC has often been considered the class of Division III women’s hockey. It’s safe to say that the league is not quite as dominant over the fellow eastern leagues as it was the past few years, but it no doubt is the top one. The NPI seems to love it some NESCAC, that’s for sure.
As it’s been the last little while, Middlebury and Amherst lead the way as national title contenders. Both teams have a sound structure and great coaching. Bowdoin is the “Cinderella story” of sorts this year, as they came seemingly out of nowhere to challenge. The middle of this league is extremely talented, with teams like Trinity, Colby, and Hamilton, who have taken steps back from last year, but are still dangerous.
In the NESCAC only one team misses out on the league tournament, with 8 of 9 qualifying, and the top 4 earning home games. Most schools have six games left in the regular season, while a few teams have just four games remaining. The top three of Middlebury, Amherst, and Bowdoin have clinched their playoff spot early.
Remaining Schedules
The Contenders:
With a dead heat, the Middlebury vs. Amherst race is going to be very intense, to see who can earn the #1 seed and potential home ice throughout the tournament. Middlebury has the tiebreaker, going 1-0-1 against the Mammoths. Amherst has a slightly more difficult schedule as well. While both the Mammoths and Panthers have road trips to Colby, Middlebury hosts both games against a quality Trinity team. Amherst has a home and away game versus Trinity. Amherst also has Hamilton, who I feel is stronger than Middlebury’s other opponent: Williams.
Bowdoin is still in the picture as well, despite coming off a devastating sweep at the hands of the Mammoths this week. Still, I would view their schedule as difficult, but slightly easier than the other two. They have Hamilton, but no Colby or Trinity on the schedule. Even if the Polar Bears can’t catch the top two, getting a top four seed and home ice in the quarterfinals will be a massive accomplishment. Trinity has a little more of an uphill climb than Bowdoin to earn a regular season title, but they have massive opportunities ahead of them. Four games against the Top 2 teams means they have a chance, even if it is a tough test.
This should be a close final stretch, and I would have to say this weekend’s series featuring Trinity @ Middlebury and Amherst @ Colby will be massive. Regardless, with how the NPI rates these teams, as long as these teams keep winning, they should be locks for the national tournament field.
The Playoff Bubble:
In the back half of the standings, we still have opportunities for these teams to make moves. I feel as if this list starts with Colby, as they will have a say in not only who wins the title, but if they can get back into the title race themselves. Like Trinity, they have both Amherst and Midd on the schedule. But Colby is playing from a little bit further behind. Regardless the Mules have an excellent chance to vault up the standings, and at the very least get into the top four to earn a home game. However, Colby is on the bubble for the NCAA tournament as well, so they need these wins.
Hamilton can potentially get into that top four, but have four extremely tough road games ahead of them if they’re going to get into home game territory. I feel as if the bottom three are those who are in danger of missing the postseason entirely. Williams has a long way to catch up, but can definitely make a move into the top four if things go their way. Conn. College is fighting for their playoff lives with just four games remaining. The Camels at the Ephs should be a huge series this weekend. If one can sweep the other, we may have a real threat to miss along with Wesleyan. The Cardinals are definitely in a tough spot here, with only four games remaining. Not only that, these games are against tough teams who need wins.
My Call:
- Middlebury (Conference Champion & Quarterfinal Home Game)
- Bowdoin (Quarterfinal Home Game)
- Amherst (Quarterfinal Home Game)
- Colby (Quarterfinal Home Game)
- Trinity (Playoff Berth)
- Hamilton (Playoff Berth)
- Connecticut College (Playoff Berth)
- Williams (Playoff Berth)
- Wesleyan
SUNYAC
Before the SUNYAC starting sponsoring women’s hockey, in the days of the NEWHL, Plattsburgh utterly dominated the league. They won every title there could be awarded. But in the two years since changing over to the SUNYAC branding, it appears the Cardinals now have some competition and investment from other schools in the league. After Cortland captured the automatic bid by beating PSU in the SUNYAC title game last season, Cortland has the confidence to skate with Plattsburgh, beating them 2 of 3 times this year.
We also have Oswego, who has taken a monumental jump from last season and is now finding ways to win games, and a lot of them at that. All three teams have NCAA tournament cases as at-large candidates, but the last three weeks is going to tell us how likely that will be for all three contenders. Teams have either four or six games remaining in their SUNYAC schedules, as only the top 4 will be receiving bids to the SUNYAC tournament. Thus, the top two teams get semifinal home games, with the regular season champion having the inside track to host the title game, and more importantly avoid playing two extremely difficult games in that tournament. Cortland is the lone team to have clinched a spot so far, but Oswego and Plattsburgh will likely do so shortly.
Remaining Schedules
The Contenders:
This is going to be an extremely tight race to figure out who can earn that #1 seed. As I mentioned above, potential home ice will definitely be crucial to earn throughout the tournament. However, I would argue that even more important, is getting the #1 seed to avoid playing one of the other big dogs until the championship game. The flip side of that, is that an upset loss to whoever finishes as the #4 seed could cause irreparable damage to that team’s at-large NCAA tournament case. Now, no one plans on that, and I think the one seed will be highly coveted by all.
Plattsburgh is done with the other two big dogs, and should be able to take care of the rest of their schedule with relative ease, but we’ll see. Canton has tripped up many teams this year. Like the Cardinals, Cortland only has four games left too. Oswego has the leg up here, with six games opportunities for points left. This weekend will be huge for the Lakers. As I said, Canton can be tricky, so Oswego needs to go into Roos House and take care of business, for the SUNYAC standings’ sake, and the NPI’s.
The elephant in the room here is that little series at the end of the regular season. The home and home between Cortland and Oswego is shaping up to be absolutely massive. There’s a solid chance that whoever can win that series gets the coveted #1 seed. Obviously, Plattsburgh is rooting for a split in that scenario, but they probably need Oz to drop another game or two besides that as well. Again, what’s critical for these teams is that they win as many as possible to protect their at-large resumes.
The Playoff Bubble:
The 99% likelihood here, is that only one of these four is making it to the postseason. So there will be many heated battles, as no one wants their season to end early. The main two to look at are Canton and Morrisville. They are extremely close in the standings, and have the same amount of games left to play. The reality is that Potsdam and Buffalo State are probably too far back and don’t have enough runway to make up that ground, particularly the Bengals.
The Mustangs of Morrisville does have the better schedule going forward. While they do have to travel to Oswego, they get Buff State, and the chance to play Canton in the final series of the year, at home. On the other side of the coin, Canton has to play both Oswego and Plattsburgh, and the aforementioned trip to Morrisville. This is an extremely tough end of the regular season for the Roos. Potsdam is just hoping for as many losses as possible for Morrisville and Canton, and needs to nearly win out, themselves.
My Call:
- Oswego (Conference Champion & Semifinal Home Game)
- Cortland (Semifinal Home Game)
- Plattsburgh (Playoff Berth)
- Morrisville (Playoff Berth)
- Canton
- Buffalo State
- Potsdam
UCHC
The UCHC is in a transition period following all the MAC schools breaking away from the conference starting this year. Luckily, the UCHC has a two-year grace period to hold onto that automatic bid, until they reach the six school minimum to keep that bid. Thankfully, because of this, we will have all of the drama attached to the Utica-Nazareth rivalry.
These two schools have run the conference for the last 6-7 years, and are once again the class of this miniature-sized conference. The two split a pair of games back in November, and have another huge series upcoming. This will likely determine home ice in the conference championship game, which I have to assume both schools will reach. This is especially true in a four-team league, and the fact these two have faced off in the UCHC title game for what seems like forever. All teams will make the postseason tournament, and technically, the conference season is only half over, which is crazy to say.
Remaining Schedules
The Contenders:
As mentioned, the two big dogs in this conference split their first series. The home team won each game, Nazareth by a 4-1 margin, and Utica in a 2-1 overtime victory. That overtime score is what gives Nazareth the 2 point lead as of this very moment. However, That is subject to change with this weekend’s games.
There’s not a ton to say here, as all four teams in this tiny conference all have a series against one another. With the state of the other two teams, I don’t see either of them pulling an upset against these two. If I had to pick one, I would potentially say Utica @ Manhattanville could be a little tricky, but I’m nowhere close to projecting it. Whoever is ahead at the end of this weekend will most likely be getting home ice in the tournament and the regular season title.
Say Utica gets a regulation win, and Nazareth gets an overtime win this weekend. Then, both teams win out. In that case, the teams are deadlocked, and headed to a very extended tiebreaker scenario. According to the UCHC website, where I see this tie being broken is #5, which is the fewest goals allowed in league play. This would be crazy if we get this far, but if we do, I’m all for it (So far, Utica has given up 5 goals in 6 league games. Naz has given up 4).
Playing for Seeding:
There’s not much to say here either, as these teams are clearly at the bottom of the standings and we will see who faces off with who in the brief UCHC tournament. In the previous two games between these two, Manhattanville won both games on the road, 2-0 and 5-2. So I would personally bet on the Valiants being able to secure the #3 seed by defending the Playland Ice Casino.
My Call:
- Nazareth (Conference Champion & Semifinal Home Game)
- Utica (Semifinal Home Game)
- Manhattanville (Playoff Berth)
- Chatham (Playoff Berth)
WIAC
Lastly, thousands of words later, we end with the WIAC. The WIAC is an extremely odd league, as they are the home of the reigning national champions, and the league houses two of the top programs in the country. Behind them, there are two solid programs that often punch above their weight class by giving great programs great games. I would consider them both perennially underrated teams. Then, Northland at the bottom of the league has traditionally struggled, and is trying to find its footing while the school battles to stay alive.
With only five teams, the WIAC has no automatic bid, which is extremely disheartening for the league. These rivalries are very strong, and it’s a shame they can’t play for more come March. With how many west teams get the short end of the stick when it comes to metrics like the NPI and previously Pairwise, there are instances where the champion of this league may not make the national tournament, which is a shame.
While I could sit here and beg the WIAC to poach a different program, or another UW school to start up women’s hockey, I won’t. Unfortunately, those are not realistic possibilities at the moment given the financial state of many Division III schools. Instead, I would ask the NCAA to strongly consider not using “only math” to determine at-large bids for the NCAA Tournament. Too many schools west of Pittsburgh feel the wrath of this.
Anyways, in the WIAC, all five teams make the playoff field, with the top 3 seeds getting a bye into the semifinals and #4 hosting #5 in a play-in game. Teams have either three or four games remaining, depending on the school. River Falls and Eau Claire have clinched a bye thus far.
Remaining Schedules
The Contenders:
While UWRF is not nearly as explosive or efficient as last year’s squad, this is still a team that can win the whole thing. Not to mention, if they can get there, they’ll be hosting the Frozen Four yet again. They currently have a five point lead, but have played one more game than the rival Blugolds. These two will also face off two more times, once this weekend, and once the final weekend. River Falls won the first matchup back in November, 5-0. Although Eau Claire is skilled, they are often overmatched in the talent department when they face the Falcons. But, EC has a signature style on how to play RF, and have shown they can come away victorious on multiple occasions against this squad over the years.
As much as home ice would mean a lot to hosting the potential WIAC title game between these two, these teams, with no automatic bid desperately need to win out, in order to give themselves a chance as an at-large team just to make the NCAA Tournament. Even still, a lot is out of their control. But, they need to do as much as possible to give themselves a chance. UWRF is the first team out, and needs signature wins to get them back on the right side of the bubble. UWEC is a ways out of the field at the moment, but is not dead by any means. They just need to stack 2 or 3 River Falls wins, and then get some help.
Playing for Seeding:
There’s not too much to discuss here. Stevens Point tied River Falls early in the year, so there’s a chance they could hang around with the Falcons coming to the Willett. Superior vs. Stevens Point is huge for seeding, in terms of who gets #3 and who gets #4. Northland is looking for any sort of positive results to build on in the offseason.
My Call:
- UW-River Falls
- UW-Eau Claire
- UW-Stevens Point
- UW-Superior
- Northland
Wrap-Up
Thanks so much for reading all my conference breakdowns before we get into this weekend of games! Keep checking back to DIII Hockey News for all our coverage as we approach the final three weeks of the regular season. I hope I was able to help provide some insight towards all these great programs, coaches, and players. Feel free to leave feedback below!
