NCAA Division III women's ice hockey

The NCAA Division III women's ice hockey is a college ice hockey competition governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as part of the NCAA Division III (DIII or D3). Sixty-seven teams competed in NCAA Division III women's hockey across eight conferences in the 2023–24 season.

Conferences

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Conference affiliations and the conferences themselves experienced numerous changes in the later part of the 2010s. The most substantial alterations occurred with the founding of the Colonial Hockey Conference (CHC) in 2015 and the folding of ECAC West in 2017, which precipitated the creation of the Northeast Women's Hockey League (NEWHL) in the same year. The conferences and affiliations presented below are accurate through the 2019–20 season.[1]

A conference with seven or more affiliated programs automatically qualifies for the NCAA DIII Women's Ice Hockey Tournament.[2] In practice, the Colonial Hockey Conference (CHC) and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) are the only conferences that do not receive automatic bids for the tournament.

The Anna Maria Amcats women's ice hockey program of Anna Maria College in Paxton, Massachusetts has participated in the NCAA Division III as an independent team (ie. without conference affiliation) since the 2018–19 season.[3]

Conference of New England

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The Conference of New England (CNE; known before the 2024–25 season as the Commonwealth Coast Conference) is a college athletic conference which operates in New England. It added women's ice hockey by taking over the former Colonial Hockey Conference (CHC; previously ECAC North Atlantic) in 2020. As of the 2024–25 season, there are six member programs:

Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

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The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) is a college athletic conference located in Minnesota. The women's ice hockey programs that compete in the MIAC include:[4]

The most recent change to the MIAC membership came after the 2020–21 season, when St. Thomas was expelled from the league and moved to NCAA Division I, joining the Summit League for most sports and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WHCA) in women's ice hockey.[5] St. Thomas was replaced by St. Scholastica.

New England Hockey Conference

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The New England Hockey Conference (NEHC; previously ECAC East) is an ice hockey-only conference which operates in New England. As of the 2019–20 season, there are nine member programs in the women's division:

New England Small College Athletic Conference

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The New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is a college athletic conference of liberal arts colleges and universities located in New England and New York. The member schools of the NESCAC are often referred to as the "Little Ivies." The women's ice hockey programs competing in the NESCAC are:[6]

Northeast Women's Hockey League

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The Northeast Women's Hockey League (NEWHL; successor of ECAC West) is a women's ice hockey-only conference comprising seven member schools in New York. It was founded in 2017 by the women's ice hockey teams of five schools in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC); its membership was increased to seven programs in 2019–20. The programs competing in the NEWHL are:

Northern Collegiate Hockey Association

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The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) is a hockey-only conference, which operates in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.[7] The women's programs competing in the NCHA are:

United Collegiate Hockey Conference

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The United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) is a hockey-only conference which operates in the Mid-Atlantic region. The women's programs competing in the UCHC are:

Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

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The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) is a collegiate athletics conference in Wisconsin, primarily comprising institutions in the University of Wisconsin System. The women's ice hockey programs participating in the WIAC are:

List of champions

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Year Champion Score Runner-up
2002 Elmira 2–1 Manhattanville
2003 Elmira 5–1 Manhattanville
2004 Middlebury 2–1 UW-Stevens Point
2005 Middlebury 4–3 Elmira
2006 Middlebury 3–1 Plattsburgh
2007 Plattsburgh 2–1 Middlebury
2008 Plattsburgh 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 9–2 Norwich
2015 Plattsburgh 3–2 Elmira
2016 Plattsburgh 5–1 UW–River Falls
2017 Plattsburgh 4–3 (OT) Adrian
2018 Norwich 2–1 Elmira
2019 Plattsburgh 4–0 Hamline
2020-2021 Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic
2022 Middlebury 3–2 (OT) Gustavus Adolphus
2023 Gustavus Adolphus 2–1 (3OT) Amherst
2024 UW–River Falls 4–1 Elmira

Laura Hurd Award

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The Laura Hurd Award is an annual award given to the top player in NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey as awarded by the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA). Since 2007, it has been named after Laura Hurd, a stand-out player for Elmira College who was killed in a car accident. Previously, it was known as the Division III Women's Player of the Year Award.[8]

Award winners

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Year Winner Pos. School
2000 Sylvia Ryan F Middlebury College
2001 Michelle Labbe F Middlebury College
2002 Sarah Moe F Gustavus Adolphus College
2003 Angela Kapus F/D Middlebury College
2004 Molly Wasserman F Williams College
2005 Laura Hurd F Elmira College
2006 Emily Quizon F Middlebury College
2007 Andrea Peterson D Gustavus Adolphus College
2008 Danielle Blanchard[9] F SUNY Plattsburgh
2009 Kayla Coady F Elmira College
2010 Isabel Iwachiw G Trinity College
2011 Sarah Dagg[10] F Rochester Institute of Technology
2012 Julie Fortier[11] F Norwich University
2013 Teal Gove[12] F SUNY Plattsburgh
2014 Sydney Aveson[13] G SUNY Plattsburgh
2015 Ashley Ryan[14] F Elmira College
2016 Michelle Greeneway F Lake Forest College
2017 Dani Sibley F UW-River Falls
2018 Melissa Sheeran F SUNY Plattsburgh
2019 Bre Simon[15] F Hamline University
2020 Amanda Conway[16] F Norwich University
2021 Not awarded
2022 Callie Hoff[17] F UW-River Falls
2023 Darci Matson[18] F Aurora University
2024 Maddie McCollins F UW-River Falls

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Women's Division III Hockey Standings: 2019-2020". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  2. ^ "Morrisville, Canton will join NEWHL in 2019-20". Northeast Women's Hockey League (Press release). 2017-11-02. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  3. ^ "Anna Maria Women's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  4. ^ "Women's Ice Hockey Team Pages". Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics Conference. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  5. ^ Jay, Michelle (2020-07-15). "University of St. Thomas joins the WCHA for 2021-22 season". The Ice Garden. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  6. ^ "2019-20 Women's Ice Hockey Standings". New England Small College Athletic Conference. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  7. ^ "A History of Women's Hockey and the NCHA". Northern Collegiate Hockey Association. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  8. ^ "AHCA Awards – Laura Hurd Award". American Hockey Coaches Association. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  9. ^ "American Hockey Coaches Association". American Hockey Coaches Association (Press release). Archived from the original on 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  10. ^ "Tiger hockey – women and men – set national records at season's end". RIT News. 2011-04-12. Archived from the original on 2016-07-14. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  11. ^ Dunning, Derek (2012-03-15). "Julie Fortier wins Laura Hurd Award". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  12. ^ "Teal Gove of Plattsburgh State is D-III Women's Player of the Year". American Hockey Coaches Association. Archived from the original on 2016-08-16. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  13. ^ "Sydney Aveson wins Laura Hurd Award; Women's All-Americans announced". D3Hockey.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  14. ^ "Ashley Ryan of Elmira is D-III Women's Hockey Player of the Year". American Hockey Coaches Association. Archived from the original on 2016-08-16. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  15. ^ "Hamline's Bre Simon is 2019 Laura Hurd Award Winner as AHCA Division III Women's Player of the Year". American Hockey Coaches Association (Press release). 2019-03-14. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  16. ^ "Norwich's Amanda Conway is 2020 Laura Hurd Award Winner As AHCA Division III Women's Player of the Year". American Hockey Coaches Association. 2020-03-26. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  17. ^ "UW-River Falls' Callie Hoff is 2022 Laura Hurd Award Winner As AHCA Division III Women's Player of the Year". American Hockey Coaches Association. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  18. ^ "Matson wins Laura Hurd Award". Aurora University Athletics. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
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