2019 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey tournament explained

Year:2019
Gender:men's
Division:Division III
Teams:12
Frozenfourarena:K.B. Willett Arena
Frozenfourcity:Stevens Point, Wisconsin
Champions:Wisconsin–Stevens Point Pointers
Titlecount:6th
Champgamecount:10th
Champffcount:11th
Runnerup:Norwich Cadets
Gamecount:6th
Runnerffcount:13th
Semifinal1:Geneseo State Knights
Frozenfourcount:3rd
Semifinal2:Hobart Statesmen
Frozenfourcount2:3rd
Coach:Tyler Krueger
Coachcount:1st
Mop:Tanner Karty
Mopteam:Wisconsin–Stevens Point

The 2019 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 2018–19 season, the 36th such tournament in NCAA history. It concluded with Wisconsin–Stevens Point defeating Norwich in the championship game 3-2 in overtime. All First Round and Quarterfinal matchups were held at home team venues, while all succeeding games were played at the K.B. Willett Arena in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin–Stevens Point became the first Division III team to win a National Championship without losing a single game during the season.

Qualifying teams

Twelve teams qualified for the tournament in the following ways: (Pool A) eight teams received bids as a result of being conference tournament champions from conferences that possessed an automatic bid, (Pool C) four additional teams received at-large bids based upon their records.[1]

EastWest
Seed School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid Seed School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid
1Geneseo StateSUNYAC24–1–2Tournament Champion7th20181Wisconsin–Stevens PointWIAC26–0–2At–Large15th2018
2NorwichNEHC21–4–3Tournament Champion18th20172St. NorbertNCHA22–4–3Tournament Champion19th2018
3Oswego StateSUNYAC19–6–2At–Large16th20173AugsburgMIAC21–3–3Tournament Champion6th2018
4HobartNEHC19–7–2At–Large9th2018
5TrinityNESCAC19–3–5Tournament Champion7th2017
6Massachusetts–BostonNEHC19–7–1At–Large2nd2016
7ManhattanvilleUCHC17–8–5Tournament Champion5th2008
8University of New EnglandCCC20–6–2Tournament Champion2nd2018
9Plymouth StateMASCAC17–7–3Tournament Champion3rd2015

Format

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

Because fewer than four western teams qualified, the tournament was arranged so that all western teams were placed into one quarterfinal bracket. The nine eastern qualifying eastern teams were arranged evenly across the remaining three quarterfinal brackets. The top three eastern seeds and the top western seed received byes into the quarterfinal round and were arranged so that the bracket containing the top overall seed would play the bracket containing the third eastern seed.

The six eastern teams in the quarterfinals were arranged so that the fourth- and ninth-seeded teams would play with the winner advancing to play the third eastern seed, the fifth- and eighth-seeded teams would play with the winner advancing to play the second eastern seed and the sixth- and seventh-seeded teams would play with the winner advancing to play the first eastern seed. The second and third western teams would play in the first round with the winner advancing to face the top western seed.

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
NEHC34–321-
SUNYAC21–21--
WIAC13–0111
NCHA11–1---
CCC11–1---
UCHC11–1---
NESCAC10–1---
MIAC10–1---
MASCAC10–1---

References

External links

Notes and References

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