The 1987 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was a tournament to determine the Division III national champion in men's ice hockey. This was the fourth time a national championship tournament at the Division III level had been held, in the 14th overall season of Division III hockey.
Format[]
Eight teams qualify for the tournament. In the quarterfinals, teams played two game series to determine which school advanced to the semifinals. If the series was tied, teams played a 20 minute mini-game to determine who advances. Beginning with the semifinals, all rounds became single-game eliminations. The teams were seeded according to geographic proximity in the quarterfinals, so the visiting team would have the shortest feasible distance to travel. The quarterfinals were held at campus sites from March 13-16. The semifinal and final rounds were held March 20 and 21 at Plattsburgh State Fieldhouse of SUNY Plattsburgh, in Plattsburgh, New York.
Bids[]
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. Because the Division III level was skewed towards eastern teams, the East Region initially received 5 bids, while the West Region received 3 bids.
At-Large Bids[]
East[]
- Babson Beavers - ECAC East (4th appearance)
- (19-7-1)
- Norwich Cadets - ECAC East (1st appearance)
- (15-11-1)
- Oswego Lakers - ECAC West (2nd appearance)
- (22-10-0)
- Plattsburgh Cardinals - ECAC West (3rd appearance; later vacated)
- ECAC West Tournament Champions (30-5-0)
- Salem State Vikings - ECAC East (2nd appearance)
- (21-10-1)
West[]
- Bemidji State Beavers - NCHA (3rd appearance)
- (20-10-1)
- Concordia (MN) Cobbers - MIAC (1st appearance)
- MIAC Tournament Champions (17-12-1)
- St. Cloud State Huskies - NCHA (1st appearance)
- NCHA Tournament Champions (23-8-1)
Misc.[]
- Three of the eight schools who earned bids appeared in the previous NCAA tournament.
- This is the 4th of 10 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Babson.
- This is the 3rd of 5 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Bemidji State.
- This is the 3rd of 4 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Plattsburgh.
- Pairings were determined strictly off of geography for the quarterfinal matches.
- The ECAC East gets more bids than the ECAC West for the first time in tournament history.
- St. Cloud State makes its one and only appearance in the tournament in its final season before moving its hockey to Division I.
- The NESCAC rule barring member schools from participating in national tournaments at the time, denying a 21-5-0 Bowdoin team from participating.
- Due to scholarship infractions, a 29-7-0 Merrimack team was ineligible from participating in the NCAA Tournament.
Results[]
Quarterfinals[]
Held at campus sites
-Plattsburgh State Fieldhouse- Plattsburgh, NY
| Friday, March 13, 1987 |
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| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Norwich | - | - | - | 2 |
| Plattsburgh | - | - | - | 6 |
| Saturday, March 14, 1987 |
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| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Norwich | - | - | - | 4 |
| Plattsburgh | - | - | - | 3 |
*MINIGAME*
| Saturday, March 14, 1987 |
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| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Norwich | 1 | 0 | N/A | 1 |
| Plattsburgh | 1 | 1 | N/A | 2 |
-John S. Glas Field House- Bemidji, MN
| Saturday, March 14, 1987 |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Concordia (MN) | - | - | - | 1 |
| Bemidji State | - | - | - | 3 |
| Sunday, March 15, 1987 |
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| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Concordia (MN) | - | - | - | 6 |
| Bemidji State | - | - | - | 8 |
-Babson Park, MA
| Friday, March 13, 1987 |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Oswego | - | - | - | 3 |
| Babson | - | - | - | 2 |
| Saturday, March 14, 1987 |
|||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | Final | |
| Oswego | - | - | - | 0 | 1 |
| Babson | - | - | - | 1 | 2 |
*MINIGAME*
| Saturday, March 14, 1987 |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Oswego | 1 | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| Babson | 0 | N/A | N/A | 0 |
-St. Cloud, MN
| Saturday, March 14, 1987 |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Salem State | - | - | - | 8 |
| St. Cloud State | - | - | - | 4 |
| Monday, March 16, 1987 |
|||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | Final | |
| Salem State | - | - | - | 0 | 2 |
| St. Cloud State | - | - | - | 1 | 3 |
*MINIGAME*
| Monday, March 16, 1987 |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Salem State | 1 | N/A | N/A | 1 |
| St. Cloud State | 2 | N/A | N/A | 2 |
Semifinals[]
Hosted by SUNY Plattsburgh: Plattsburgh State Fieldhouse- Plattsburgh, NY
| Friday, March 20, 1987 |
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| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Bemidji State | - | - | - | 4 |
| Plattsburgh | - | - | - | 7 |
| Friday, March 20, 1987 |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Oswego | - | - | - | 5 |
| St. Cloud State | - | - | - | 2 |
Third Place[]
Hosted by SUNY Plattsburgh: Plattsburgh State Fieldhouse- Plattsburgh, NY
| Saturday, March 21, 1987 |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Bemidji State | - | - | - | 4 |
| St. Cloud State | - | - | - | 6 |
Championship[]
Hosted by SUNY Plattsburgh: Plattsburgh State Fieldhouse- Plattsburgh, NY
| Saturday, March 21, 1987 |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Oswego | - | - | - | 3 |
| Plattsburgh | - | - | - | 8 |
Note: Plattsburgh's championship was later vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions
1987 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey National Champion Plattsburgh Cardinals
Bracket[]
Tournament Notes[]
- Plattsburgh wins its first-ever National Championship as a program.
- Plattsburgh State's championship would later be vacated in 1990 by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.
- Plattsburgh becomes the second straight team to win the championship on home ice.
- Plattsburgh also becomes the second straight program to win the title after falling in the national championship game the season prior.
- Oswego finishes as National Runner-Up for the first time in program history.
- The Plattsburgh vs. Oswego title game would become the first time an intraconference matchup decided the national championship.
- St. Cloud State finishes in 3rd place in its only tournament appearance at the Division III level.
NCAA Quarterfinal: Game 1 between Salem State and St. Cloud State (3/14/87)
- Bemidji State earns a fourth place finish in the program's third straight Frozen Four appearance, following a 2nd and 1st place finish, respectively.
- This was the final year an All-Tournament team was named until 2009.
All-Tournament Team[]
- F: Joey Ferras- Plattsburgh
- F: Dave Piromalli- Plattsburgh
- F: Rian Reed- St. Cloud State
- D: Chris Panek- Plattsburgh (MVP)
- D: Peter Wasserman- Oswego
- G: Craig Barnett- Plattsburgh