NCAA Division III women's ice hockey

As of the 2019–20 season, there were 67 teams competing in NCAA Division III women’s hockey in eight conferences.

NCAA Division III women's ice hockey may begin formal practice on October 15 and are limited to 25 games in the regular season. Four of the five conferences begin practice on this date (all except for the New England Small College Athletic Conference) and once the season begins, most teams practice or play six days per week.

The women's ice hockey championship includes 5 conferences for the NCAA Division III:

Eastern College Athletic Conference East
ECAC East is a college athletic conference which operates in the northeastern United States. There are currently 9 members in the women’s division:


 * Castleton University – Castleton, Vermont
 * Manhattanville College – Purchase, New York
 * New England College – Henniker, New Hampshire
 * Nichols College - Dudley, Massachusetts
 * Norwich University – Northfield, Vermont
 * Plymouth State University – Plymouth, New Hampshire
 * Salve Regina University – Newport, Rhode Island
 * University of Massachusetts Boston – Boston, Massachusetts
 * University of Southern Maine – Gorham, Maine

Eastern College Athletic Conference West
ECAC West is a college athletic conference which operates in the northeastern United States. There are currently 10 members in the women’s division:


 * Buffalo State College – Buffalo, New York
 * Chatham University – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
 * Elmira College – Elmira, New York
 * William Smith College - Geneva, New York
 * Nazareth College (New York) – Rochester, New York
 * Neumann University – Aston Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania
 * Plattsburgh State University – Plattsburgh, New York
 * SUNY Cortland – Cortland, New York
 * SUNY Oswego – Oswego, New York
 * SUNY Potsdam – Potsdam, New York
 * Utica College – Utica, New York

Middle Atlantic Conference
The Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) — not to be confused with the Division I Mid-American Conference, which uses the same initialism — is an umbrella organization of three Division III conferences:


 * MAC Commonwealth and MAC Freedom (formally "Middle Atlantic Conference X"), both of which sponsor competition in the same set of 14 sports, but not ice hockey.
 * Middle Atlantic Conference (not to be confused with the overall organization), which sponsors competition for Commonwealth and Freedom members in 13 other sports, including hockey.

The following schools compete in MAC women's hockey:


 * Alvernia University – Reading, PA (MAC Commonwealth member)
 * King's College – Wilkes-Barre, PA (MAC Freedom member)
 * Lebanon Valley College – Annville, PA (MAC Commonwealth member)
 * Stevenson University – Stevenson, MD (MAC Commonwealth member)
 * Wilkes University – Wilkes-Barre, PA (MAC Freedom member)

Arcadia University (Glenside, PA), a MAC Freedom member, will add men's and women's hockey teams in 2021–22.

Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) is a College Athletic Conference, which competes in the NCAA’s Division 3. As the member schools are located in Minnesota. These women's teams include:


 * Augsburg University – Minneapolis, MN
 * Bethel University – St. Paul, MN
 * College of Saint Benedict – St. Joseph, MN
 * Concordia College Minnesota – Moorhead, MN
 * Gustavus Adolphus College – St. Peter, MN
 * Hamline University – St. Paul, MN
 * Saint Mary’s University – Winona, MN
 * St. Catherine University – St. Paul, MN
 * St. Olaf College – Northfield, MN
 * University of St. Thomas – St. Paul, MN

St. Thomas will be expelled from the MIAC after the 2020–21 school year; most of the other members felt that the school had grown too strong for the conference in multiple sports. The school will move to Division I, joining the Summit League in most sports and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in women's hockey.

New England Small College Athletic Conference
The New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is the premier historic Division III athletic conference in the United States, consisting of highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities located in New England and New York. NESCAC is often referred to as the “Little Ivies”. The women's ice hockey teams that make up NESCAC are:


 * Amherst College – Amherst, MA
 * Bowdoin College – Brunswick, ME
 * Colby College – Waterville, ME
 * Connecticut College – New London, CT
 * Hamilton College – Clinton, NY
 * Middlebury College – Middlebury, VT
 * Trinity College – Hartford, CT
 * Wesleyan University – Middletown, CT
 * Williams College – Williamstown, MA

Northern Collegiate Hockey Association
The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) is a college athletic conference, which operates in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin ( in the midwestern United States). It participates in the NCAA’s Division III as a hockey-only conference. The women's teams competing in the NCHA are:


 * Adrian College – Adrian, MI
 * Concordia University Wisconsin – Mequon, WI
 * Finlandia University – Hancock, MI
 * Lake Forest College – Lake Forest, IL
 * Marian University – Fond du Lac, WI
 * St. Norbert College – De Pere, WI
 * University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire – Eau Claire, WI
 * University of Wisconsin–River Falls – River Falls, WI
 * University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point – Stevens Point, WI
 * University of Wisconsin–Superior – Superior, WI

Laura Hurd Award
The Laura Hurd Award is an annual award given to the top player in NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey. It is given by the American Hockey Coaches Association. 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.

Award winners

 * NCAA Division I Women's Hockey conferences and teams
 * National Collegiate women's ice hockey championship
 * Women's Hockey Coaches with 250 wins