2009 Men's Division III NCAA Tournament

The 2009 Men's Division III NCAA Tournament will take place March 11 through March 21, 2009.

The participants are:

East Region:
 * Plattsburgh Cardinals
 * Amherst Lord Jeffs
 * Babson Beavers
 * Elmira Soaring Eagles
 * Hobart Statesmen
 * Neumann Knights
 * Nichols Bison

West Region:
 * Gustavus Adolphus Golden Gusties
 * St. Scholastica Saints
 * Wisconsin-Stout Blue Devils
 * Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets

Plattsburgh is the SUNYAC champion and receives a first-round bye. Amherst is the NESCAC champion. Babson is the ECAC East champion. Nichols is the ECAC Northeast champion. Gustavus Adolphus is the MIAC champion. Wisconsin-Stout is the NCHA champion.

Neumann is the ECAC West champion, and Adrian is the MCHA champion, but those leagues do not have an automatic qualifier.

The Pool B bid, for teams without an automatic qualifier, goes to Hobart (ECAC West).

The Pool C at-large bids go to Elmira (ECAC West), Neumann (ECAC West), St. Scholastica (NCHA), and Wisconsin-Superior (NCHA).

For the first time ever, two leagues have three teams in the tournament: ECAC West and NCHA.

The ECAC West champion (Neumann this year) has never failed to make the tournament. Conversely, no MCHA team has ever made the tournament. Adrian, the league champion, had a 27-1-1 record this year but still could not break into the West Region rankings.

The defending national champions, the St. Norbert Green Knights did not make the tournament, likely due to Neumann's win over Hobart in the ECAC West final on a tie-breaking goal with just 4.3 seconds remaining.

First round
All three first-round games are in the East this year. The four West teams, plus Plattsburgh, receive byes into the quarterfinals. The first-round games will be held at the homes of the higher seeds (although the tournament selections were not seeded, home games were awarded based on some criteria).

Neumann at Elmira
In the ECAC West tournament, fourth-seeded Neumann upset top-seeded Elmira in Horseheads, en route to the Knights' first league championship. Now, 11 days later, the Soaring Eagles were looking for revenge, but Neumann prevailed again, earning a win in their first-ever NCAA game.

Neumann moves on to face top-ranked Plattsburgh.

Nichols at Hobart
Hobart lost the ECAC West championship on a very late goal by Neumann, but they still earned their way to the Pool B bid ahead of Elmira and Neumann.

Hobart moves on to play Amherst.

Babson at Amherst
Amherst will next host Hobart.

Quarterfinals
The quarterfinal games were played on March 14 at the homes of the higher seeds. Three of the games were won by the lower seed, two of them in overtime.

Neumann at Plattsburgh
Neumann continued their unprecedented postseason run, improving to 2-0 all time in the national tournament with a win over heavily-favored Plattsburgh. An intense back-and-forth game, neither team ever led by more than one goal. Neumann's tying goal (4-4) in the third came just ten seconds after Plattsburgh's fourth and final goal. Neumann's Bill Foster scored the winner 2:38 into overtime.

Neumann advances to play Hobart (again!) in the semifinals.

Hobart at Amherst
Amherst had a perfect record at home coming into the game. The two teams played a strong, physical contest, with the defenses keeping quality shots to a minimum and both goalies playing nearly lights-out. Hobart's Jason Merritt netted the winner at 11:40 of overtime, after picking a Lord Jeff's pocket deep in the Amherst zone.

Hobart will advance and meet Neumann (again!) in the semifinals.

Gustavus Adolphus at Wisconsin-Superior
Gustavus Adolphus will face Wisconsin-Stout in the semifinals.

St. Scholastica at Wisconsin-Stout
Wisconsin-Stout previously beat visiting St. Scholastica 3-2 on February 28 in the NCHA semifinals. This was the only quarterfinal game that was won by the home team.

Wisconsin-Stout will face Gustavus Adolphus in the semifinals.

Semifinals
The semifinal and final rounds will be held at the legendary Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York, site of the Miracle on Ice in the 1980 Olympics. The semifinals will be held on Friday, March 20.

The later semifinal is a rematch of the ECAC West title game, in which visiting Neumann upset Hobart on a tie-breaking goal with less than five seconds left in regulation.

Final
The semifinal winners will play in the final on Saturday, March 21.

2009 NCAA Tournament Links

 * 2009 Women's Division III NCAA Tournament