NCAA Division III women's ice hockey

As of the 2011-2012 season, there were 49 teams competing in NCAA Division III women’s hockey in five conferences. In addition, there were three colleges who are not in Division III who compete primarily against Division 3 schools (and participate in a Division III conference), bringing the total number of teams competing in regular season play to 52 schools (there is one Division 1 team, and two Division 2 teams who play predominantly Division 3 schedules). Many NCAA Division III schools are smaller than NCAA Division 1 colleges, though size is not the determining factor. There is a mix of private colleges and public colleges (and universities) among the NCAA Division III schools. Some women student-athletes play two sports in NCAA Division III, though it remains a challenge to mix hockey and another sport because as a winter sport, hockey will still overlap with a fall or spring sport.

NCAA Division III women's ice hockey may begin formal practice on October 15 and are limited to 25 games in the regular season. Four of the five conferences begin practice on this date (all except for the New England Small College Athletic Conference) and once the season begins, most teams practice or play six days per week.

The women' ice hockey championship possesses 5 conferences for the NCAA Division III:

Conferences

Eastern College Athletic Conference East

ECAC East is a college athletic conference which operates in the northeastern United States. There are currently 12 members in the women’s division:^[1]

• Castleton State College – Castleton, VT
• Holy Cross – Worcester, MA
• Manhattanville College – Purchase, NY
• New England College – Henniker, NH
• Nichols College - Dudley, MA
• Norwich Cadets women's ice hockey – Northfield, VT
• Plymouth State University – Plymouth, NH
• Salve Regina University – Newport, RI
• St. Anselm College – Goffstown, NH
• Saint Michael's College – Colchester, VT
• University of Massachusetts Boston – Boston, MA
• University of Southern Maine – Gorham, ME

Eastern College Athletic Conference West

ECAC West is a college athletic conference which operates in the northeastern United States. There are currently 10 members in the women’s division:^[2]

• Buffalo State College – Buffalo, NY
• Chatham University – Pittsburgh, PA
• Elmira College – Elmira, NY
• Hobart William Smith Colleges - Geneva, NY
• Neumann University – Aston, PA
• Plattsburgh State University – Plattsburgh, NY
• RIT Tigers women's ice hockey – Rochester, NY
• SUNY Cortland – Cortland, NY
• SUNY Oswego – Oswego, NY
• SUNY Potsdam – Potsdam, NY
• Utica College – Utica, NY

Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) is a College Athletic Conference, which competes in the NCAA’s Division 3. As the member schools are located in Minnesota. These women's teams include:^[3]

• Augsburg College – Minneapolis, MN
• Bethel University – St. Paul, MN
• College of Saint Benedict – St. Joseph, MN
• Concordia College Minnesota – Moorhead, MN
• Gustavus Adolphus College – St. Peter, MN
• Hamline University – St. Paul, MN
• Saint Mary’s University – Winona, MN
• St. Catherine University – St. Paul, MN
• St. Olaf College – Northfield, MN
• University of St. Thomas – St. Paul, MN

New England Small College Athletic Conference

The New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is the premier historic Division III athletic conference in the United States, consisting of highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities located in New England and New York. NESCAC is often referred to as the “Little Ivies”. The women's ice hockey teams that make up NESCAC are:^[4]

• Amherst College – Amherst, MA
• Bowdoin College – Brunswick, ME
• Colby College – Waterville, ME
• Connecticut College – New London, CT
• Hamilton College – Clinton, NY
• Middlebury College – Middlebury, VT
• Trinity College – Hartford, CT
• Wesleyan University – Middletown, CT
• Williams College – Williamstown, MA

Northern Collegiate Hockey Association

The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) is a college athletic conference, which operates in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin ( in the midwestern United States). It participates in the NCAA’s Division III as a hockey-only conference.^[5] The women's teams competing in the NCHA are:

• Adrian College – Adrian, MI
• Concordia University Wisconsin – Mequon, WI
• Finlandia University – Hancock, MI
• Lake Forest College – Lake Forest, IL
• Marian University – Fond du Lac, WI
• St. Norbert College – De Pere, WI
• University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire – Eau Claire, WI
• University of Wisconsin–River Falls – River Falls, WI
• University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point – Stevens Point, WI
• University of Wisconsin–Superior – Superior, WI

National Champions Division III

Year	Champion	Score	Runner-up
2002	Elmira	2–1	Manhattanville
2003	Elmira	5–1	Manhattanville
2004	Middlebury	2–1	Wisconsin-Stevens Point
2005	Middlebury	4–3	Elmira
2006	Middlebury	3–1	Plattsburgh State
2007	Plattsburgh State	2–1	Middlebury
2008	Plattsburgh State	3–2	Manhattanville
2009	Amherst	4–3 (OT)	Elmira
2010	Amherst	7–2	Norwich
2011	Norwich	5–2	RIT
2012	RIT	4–1	Norwich
2013	Elmira	1-0	Middlebury
2014	Plattsburgh State	9-2	Norwich
2015	Plattsburgh State	3-2	Elmira
2016	Plattsburgh State	5-1	University of Wisconsin–River Falls

Awards and honors

Laura Hurd Award

The Laura Hurd Award is given to the best player in the Division III.

Year	Player	University	Position
2000	Sylvia Ryan	Middlebury	Forward
2001	Michelle Labbe	Middlebury	Forward
2002	Sarah Moe	Gustavus Adolphus	Forward
2003	Angela Kapus	Middlebury	Forward/Defender
2004	Molly Wasserman	Williams	Forward
2005	Laura Hurd	Elmira	Forward
2006	Emily Quizon	Middlebury	Forward
2007	Andrea Peterson	Gustavus Adolphus	Defender
2008	Danielle Blanchard	Plattsburgh	Forward
2009	Kayla Coady	Elmira	Forward
2010	Isabel Iwachiw	Trinity	Goaltender
2011	Sarah Dagg	RIT	Forward
2012	Julie Fortier	Norwich	Forward
2013	Teal Grove	SUNY Plattsburgh	Forward
2014	Sydney Aveson	SUNY Plattsburgh	Goaltender
2015	Ashley Ryan	Elmira	Forward
2016	Michelle Greeneway	Lake Forest	Forward

^[6]

References

1. Women's East Hockey
2. Women's West hockey
3. MIAC Hockey
4. NESCAC Ice Hockey
5. A History of Women's Hockey and the NCHA
6. American Hockey Coaches Association, AHCA Major Awards

See also

• Laura Hurd Award
• Title IX
• National Collegiate women's ice hockey championship
• Major women's sport leagues in North America

External links

• NCAA Division III women ice hockey page