INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Committee has announced the eight teams selected for the 2016 NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Championship. Of the eight teams in the championship field, five of the teams received automatic qualification berths as winners of their conference championship. One institution was selected from Pool B, which includes independent institutions and institutions from conferences that do not meet the automatic qualification criteria. Two institutions were selected from Pool C, which consists of institutions from automatic-qualifying conferences that were not the conference champion and independent institutions that were not selected for the Pool B berth.
Conferences and teams receiving automatic qualification:
ECAC DIII Women’s West Hockey League
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
New England Hockey Conference
New England Small College Athletic Conference
Women's Northern Collegiate Hockey Association
Plattsburgh State University of New York
University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)
University of Massachusetts Boston
Middlebury College
Adrian College
The institution selected from Pool B was the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, and the two institutions selected from Pool C were Amherst College and Elmira College.
Four first-round games will be played at campus sites March 11 or 12. Dates and times for these games will be announced later today. The highest-seeded team advancing from first rounds will host the semifinals March 18 and the third-place game and finals March 19. For more information, including live webcasting of the semifinals, third-place game and finals, visit www.NCAA.com.
MORE: Full bracket
In 2015, Plattsburgh State defeated Elmira 3-2 in Plattsburgh, New York to win its fourth NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Championship title in nine years.
