1998 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey tournament explained

Year:1998
Gender:men's
Division:Division III
Teams:8
Frozenfourarena:Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena
Frozenfourcity:Plattsburgh, New York
Champions:Middlebury Panthers
Titlecount:4th
Champgamecount:4th
Champffcount:4th
Runnerup:Wisconsin–Stevens Point Pointers
Gamecount:6th
Runnerffcount:6th
Semifinal1:Plattsburgh State Cardinals
Frozenfourcount:5th
Semifinal2:Augsburg Auggies
Frozenfourcount2:2nd
Coach:Bill Beaney
Coachcount:4th
Mopteam:not awarded
Attendance:11,108

The 1998 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey tournament was the culmination of the 1997–98 season, the 15th such tournament in NCAA history. It concluded with Middlebury defeating Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the championship game 2-1. All Quarterfinals matchups were held at home team venues, while all succeeding games were played in Plattsburgh, New York.

The championship marked the fourth in a row for Middlebury, a record for all levels of men's ice hockey.

Qualifying teams

The following teams qualified for the tournament. There were no automatic bids, however, conference tournament champions were given preferential consideration. No formal seeding was used while quarterfinal matches were arranged so that the road teams would have the shortest possible travel distances.

EastWest
School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid
MiddleburyECAC East20–2–2At-Large4th1997AugsburgMIAC19–6–4Tournament Champion2nd1984
Oswego StateSUNYAC16–11–2At-Large6th1991St. NorbertNCHA26–5–0Tournament Champion2nd1997
Plattsburgh StateSUNYAC24–6–1Tournament Champion7th1996Wisconsin–River FallsNCHA22–6–1At-Large7th1996
RITECAC West19–3–5At-Large8th1997Wisconsin–Stevens PointNCHA21–9–0At-Large9th1995

Format

The tournament featured three rounds of play. In the Quarterfinals, teams played a two-game series where the first team to reach 3 points was declared a winner (2 points for winning a game, 1 point each for tying). If both teams ended up with 2 points after the first two games a 20-minute mini-game used to determine a winner. Mini-game scores are in italics. Beginning with the semifinals, all games became single-game eliminations. The winning teams in the semifinals advanced to the national championship game with the losers playing in a third-place game. The teams were seeded according to geographic proximity in the quarterfinals so the visiting team would have the shortest feasible distance to travel.

Bracket

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics

Record by conference

Conference
  1. of Bids
RecordWin %Frozen FourChampionship GameChampions
NCHA33–511-
SUNYAC22–41--
ECAC East14–0111
MIAC12–21--
ECAC West11–1---

References

External links