The 2015 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Tournament was a tournament to determine the Division III national champion in women's ice hockey. This was the sixteenth time a national championship tournament at the Division III level had been held and was the fourteenth one sanctioned by the NCAA.
Format[]
Eight teams qualify for the single elimination tournament. The conference tournament champions of the ECAC East, ECAC West, MIAC, NCHA, and NESCAC received automatic bids to the tournament. Three at-large bids were also selected. The first round games were held at campus sites on March 14. The semifinal and final rounds were held March 20 and 21 at Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena of SUNY Plattsburgh, the highest remaining seed in the tournament.
Bids[]
Automatic Bids[]
- Eastern College Athletic Conference East champion: Norwich Cadets (7th appearance)
- Eastern College Athletic Conference West champion: Plattsburgh Cardinals (11th appearance)
- Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion: St. Thomas Tommies (3rd appearance)
- New England Small College Athletic Conference champion: Trinity Bantams (2nd appearance)
- Northern Collegiate Hockey Association champion: Lake Forest Foresters (2nd appearance)
At-Large Bids[]
Pool C (Non-champs from all conferences)[]
- Elmira Soaring Eagles - ECAC West (11th appearance)
- Middlebury Panthers - NESCAC (12th appearance^^)
- Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons - WIAC* (8th appearance)
^^ = Middlebury appeared in the 2 AWCHA tournaments that predated the NCAA tournament
* = WIAC did not receive an automatic bid with only four teams
Misc.[]
- Six of the eight schools who earned bids appeared in the previous season's NCAA tournament
- This is the 7th of 9 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for UW-River Falls.
- This is the 7th of 7 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Norwich.
- This is the 4th of an active 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance streak for Plattsburgh.
- This is the 3rd of 9 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Elmira.
- This is the 2nd of 4 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for St. Thomas.
- This is the 1st of 4 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Middlebury.
- As of 2025, this remains as both Lake Forest and Trinity's last NCAA tournament appearance.
- This becomes the fourth instance (2nd for Plattsburgh) where a school has hosted consecutive Frozen Fours. (Elmira: 2002, 2003; Plattsburgh: 2006, 2007, 2008; RIT: 2011, 2012)
- This becomes the third instance where a team needs to be flown before the semifinal round due to geographical issues. (St. Thomas)
Seeds[]
East
- Plattsburgh (23-2-2)
- Elmira (24-2-1)
- Middlebury (20-4-3)
- Norwich (21-4-3)
- Trinity (18-6-2)
West
- UW-River Falls (24-3-1)
- Lake Forest (14-8-3)
- St. Thomas (14-9-4)
Results[]
Quarterfinals[]
Held at campus sites
-Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena- Plattsburgh, NY
| Saturday, March 14, 2015 3 PM ET |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| W3) St. Thomas | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| E1) Plattsburgh | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
-Murray Athletic Center Arena- Horseheads, NY
| Saturday, March 14, 2015 3 PM ET |
|||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | Final | |
| E5) Trinity | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| E2) Elmira | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
-Hunt Arena- River Falls, WI
| Saturday, March 14, 2015 2 PM CT |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| W2) Lake Forest | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| W1) UW-River Falls | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
-Chip Kenyon '85 Arena- Middlebury, VT
| Saturday, March 14, 2015 7 PM ET |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| E4) Norwich | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| E3) Middlebury | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Semifinals[]
Hosted by SUNY Plattsburgh: Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena- Plattsburgh, NY
| Friday, March 20, 2015 3:30 PM ET |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| E4) Norwich | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| E1) Plattsburgh | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Friday, March 20, 2015 7 PM ET |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| W1) UW-River Falls | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| E2) Elmira | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Third Place[]
Hosted by SUNY Plattsburgh: Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena- Plattsburgh, NY
| Saturday, March 21, 2015 3:30 PM ET |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| E4) Norwich | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| W1) UW-River Falls | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
Championship[]
Hosted by SUNY Plattsburgh: Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena- Plattsburgh, NY
| Saturday, March 21, 2015 7 PM ET |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| E2) Elmira | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| E1) Plattsburgh | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
2015 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey National Champion Plattsburgh Cardinals
Bracket[]
Tournament Notes[]
- Plattsburgh wins its fourth NCAA national championship, taking the lead for most of all time. (Middlebury does have 2 AWCHA titles, in addition to its 3 NCAA titles)
- Plattsburgh goes back-to-back as national champions for the 2nd time in program history, the first instance coming in 2007 and 2008.
- All 4 Plattsburgh national championships have been won on home ice.
- The national championship marks the fifth time this season that Elmira and Plattsburgh face off, with Plattsburgh's victory clinching the season series 3-2.
- Elmira finishes as national runner-up for the third time in program history.
- UW-River Falls finishes in third place for the second consecutive season.
- Norwich reaches the national semifinals for the fifth time in program history, dropping its first game in that round, falling to 4-1 all time in the semis.
- Plattsburgh's championship marks the fourth straight title won by an ECAC West team. (RIT: 2012; Elmira: 2013; Plattsburgh: 2014)
- With two ECAC West teams meeting in the title game, this marks the first-ever intraconference matchup to play for the national championship.
Statistics[]
Skaters[]
| Player | Team | Pos. | Yr. | GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | SOG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridget Balisy | Plattsburgh | F | Jr. | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| Giovanna Senese | Plattsburgh | F | Jr. | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 11 |
| Shannon Stewart | Plattsburgh | F | Sr. | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 14 |
| Kaycie Anderson | Norwich | F | Sr. | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -2 | 2 | 11 |
| Kayla Meneghin | Plattsburgh | F | Fr. | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| Melissa Sheeran | Plattsburgh | F | Fr. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 17 |
| Vanessa Champagne | Norwich | F | Sr. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Ashton Hogan | Elmira | F | Sr. | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0 | 16 |
| Brooke Wilgosh | Elmira | D | Sr. | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| Dani Buehrer | UW-River Falls | D | Jr. | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Carly Moran | UW-River Falls | F | Fr. | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Jordan Lipson | Plattsburgh | F | So. | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| Dani Sibley | UW-River Falls | F | So. | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| Adelle Murphy | Norwich | F | So. | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Goaltending[]
| Player | Team | Yr. | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camille Leonard | Plattsburgh | So. | 3 | 3 | 0 | 77 | 5 | 1.67 | .935 | 0 | 179:54 |
| Kyle Nelson | Elmira | So. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 73 | 7 | 2.34 | .904 | 0 | 179:48 |
| Angie Hall | UW-River Falls | Fr. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 73 | 7 | 2.35 | .904 | 0 | 178:35 |
All-Tournament Team[]
- F: Kaycie Anderson- Norwich
- F: Bridget Balisy- Plattsburgh
- F: Ashley Ryan- Elmira
- F: Giovanna Senise- Plattsburgh (MVP)
- D: Paige Johnson- UW-River Falls
- G: Camille Leonard- Plattsburgh
