2018 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey tournament explained

Year:2018
Gender:men's
Division:Division III
Teams:12
Frozenfourarena:Herb Brooks Arena
Frozenfourcity:Lake Placid, New York
Champions:St. Norbert Green Knights
Titlecount:5th
Champgamecount:9th
Champffcount:12th
Runnerup:Salve Regina Seahawks
Gamecount:1st
Runnerffcount:1st
Semifinal1:Colby Mules
Frozenfourcount:1st
Semifinal2:Wisconsin–Stevens Point Pointers
Frozenfourcount2:10th
Coach:Tim Coghlin
Coachcount:5th
Mop:Tanner Froese
Mopteam:St. Norbert
Attendance:10,933

The 2018 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 2017–18 season, the 35th such tournament in NCAA history. It concluded with St. Norbert defeating Salve Regina in the championship game 3-2 in double overtime. All First Round and Quarterfinal matchups were held at home team venues, while all succeeding games were played at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York.

Qualifying teams

Twelve teams qualified for the tournament in the following ways: (Pool A) seven teams received bids as a result of being conference tournament champions from conferences that possessed an automatic bid. (Pool B) one team was selected from two conferences that did not possess an automatic bid. (Pool C) four teams from conferences that possessed an automatic bid received at-large invitations based upon their records.[1]

East West
Seed School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid Seed School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid
1Salve ReginaCCC20–5–2At–Large (C)2nd20161St. NorbertNCHA24–4–1Tournament Champion18th2017
2University of New EnglandCCC20–5–3At–Large (C)1stNever2AdrianNCHA24–5–0At–Large (C)8th2017
3HobartNEHC18–5–5Tournament Champion8th20173Wisconsin–Stevens PointWIAC20–5–3At–Large (B)14th2017
4NicholsCCC17–8–3Tournament Champion4th20154AugsburgMIAC18–9–0Tournament Champion5th2017
5Fitchburg StateMASCAC18–6–3Tournament Champion1stNever5MarianNCHA20–7–1At–Large (C)1stNever
6Geneseo StateSUNYAC19–5–3Tournament Champion6th2016
7ColbyNESCAC15–10–2Tournament Champion2nd1996

Format

The tournament featured four rounds of play. All rounds were Single-game elimination.

Because at least four western teams qualified, the tournament was arranged so that there were two eastern and two western quarterfinal brackets. The top two teams from each region were placed in separate quarterfinal brackets and then arranged so that were all to reach the semifinals the top western seed would play the second eastern seed and vice versa.

Since five western teams and seven eastern teams qualified for the tournament, three western teams received byes into the quarterfinal round while one eastern team was advanced to the second round. In the first round, the fourth- and fifth-seeded western teams played with the winner advancing to play the top western seed. The second- and third-seeded western teams would play one another in the other western quarterfinal bracket.

The eastern teams were arranged so that the second seed would play the seventh seed, the third seed would play the sixth seed and the fourth seed would play the fifth seed. The winner between the fourth- and fifth-seeded eastern teams would play the top eastern seed while the winner between the third- and sixth-seeded eastern teams would play the victor of the second- and seventh-seeded match.

In the First Round and Quarterfinals the higher-seeded team served as host.

Tournament Bracket

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

All-Tournament Team

* Most Outstanding Player(s)

Record by conference

Conference
  1. of Bids
RecordWin %Frozen FourChampionship GameChampions
33–2111
CCC33–311-
NESCAC12–11--
WIAC11–11--
SUNYAC11–1---
11–1---
NEHC10–1---
MASCAC10–1---

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: NCAA Division III men's hockey tournament . USCHO.com . September 18, 2019.