The 2016 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 seventeenth time a national championship tournament at the Division III level had been held and was the fifteenth one sanctioned by the NCAA.
Format[]
Eight teams qualify for the single elimination tournament. The conference tournament champions of the ECAC West, MIAC, NCHA, NEHC, and NESCAC received automatic bids to the tournament. Three at-large bids were also selected, two of which come from the aforementioned automatic-qualifier conferences. This is the first tournament after the ECAC East rebranded as the NEHC. The Colonial Hockey Conference started play in the 2015-16 season and would not be eligible for an automatic bid until the 2017-18 season. Until then, the conference's schools were put into Pool B along with the WIAC schools and independents. The first round games were held at campus sites on March 11 and 12. The semifinal and final rounds were held March 18 and 19 at Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena of SUNY Plattsburgh, the highest remaining seed in the tournament.
Bids[]
Automatic Bids[]
- Eastern College Athletic Conference West champion: Plattsburgh Cardinals (12th appearance)
- Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion: St. Thomas Tommies (4th appearance)
- New England Hockey Conference champion: UMass-Boston Beacons (1st appearance)
- New England Small College Athletic Conference champion: Middlebury Panthers (13th appearance^^)
- Northern Collegiate Hockey Association champion: Adrian Bulldogs (2nd appearance)
At-Large Bids[]
Pool B (Teams from non-AQ conferences)[]
- Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons - WIAC* (9th appearance)
Pool C (Non-champs from all conferences)[]
- Amherst Lord Jeffs - NESCAC (6th appearance)
- Elmira Soaring Eagles - ECAC West (12th appearance)
^^ = Middlebury appeared in the 2 AWCHA tournaments that predated the NCAA tournament
* = WIAC did not receive an automatic bid with only four teams, making them a pool B conference
Misc.[]
- Five of the eight schools who earned bids appeared in the previous season's NCAA tournament
- This is the 8th of 9 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for UW-River Falls.
- This is the 5th of an active 12 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance streak for Plattsburgh.
- This is the 4th of 9 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Elmira.
- This is the 3rd of 4 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for St. Thomas.
- This is the 2nd of 4 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Middlebury.
- This is the 1st of 5 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Adrian.
- This is the 2nd instance of Plattsburgh hosting the Division III women's Frozen Four for three consecutive seasons, the only school to host three in a row even on one occasion.
- As of 2023, this remains as UMass Boston's only appearance in the NCAA tournament.
- Due to geographic issues, the #2 and #3 overall seeds (Adrian & Elmira) are forced to play in the first round.
- The ECAC West earns multiple bids for the fifth consecutive season.
- This year's selection committee consisted of:
- Jodi McKenna (chair) (Wesleyan head coach)
- Katie Boldvich (Colonial Hockey Conference and New England Hockey Conference commissioner)
- Brad Marshall (Saint Catherine head coach)
- Jackie Slaats (Lake Forest AD)
- Gil Burmaster (Utica SID)
Seeds[]
East
- Plattsburgh (26-1-0)
- Elmira (21-4-1)
- Middlebury (20-4-3)
- Amherst (22-2-3)
- UMass Boston (16-12-0)
West
- Adrian (25-2-1)
- UW-River Falls (21-5-2)
- St. Thomas (20-5-2)
Results[]
Quarterfinals[]
Held at campus sites
-Hunt Area- River Falls, WI
| Friday, March 11, 2016 7:05 PM CT |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| W3) St. Thomas | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| W2) UW-River Falls | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
-Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena- Plattsburgh, NY
| Saturday, March 12, 2016 3 PM ET |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| E4) Amherst | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E1) Plattsburgh | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
-Chip Kenyon '85 Arena- Middlebury, VT
| Saturday, March 12, 2016 4 PM ET |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| E5) UMass Boston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E3) Middlebury | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
-Arrington Ice Arena- Adrian, MI
| Saturday, March 12, 2016 7 PM ET |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| E2) Elmira | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| W1) Adrian | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Semifinals[]
Hosted by SUNY Plattsburgh: Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena- Plattsburgh, NY
| Friday, March 18, 2016 3:30 PM ET |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| E3) Middlebury | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| E1) Plattsburgh | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| Friday, March 18, 2016 7 PM ET |
|||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | Final | |
| W2) UW-River Falls | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| E2) Elmira | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Third Place[]
Hosted by SUNY Plattsburgh: Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena- Plattsburgh, NY
| Saturday, March 19, 2016 3:30 PM ET |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| E3) Middlebury | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| E2) Elmira | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
Championship[]
Hosted by SUNY Plattsburgh: Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena- Plattsburgh, NY
| Saturday, March 19, 2016 7 PM ET |
||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| W2) UW-River Falls | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| E1) Plattsburgh | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
Bracket[]
Tournament Notes[]
- Plattsburgh wins its fifth NCAA national championship, most of all time. (Middlebury does have 2 AWCHA titles, in addition to its 3 NCAA titles)
- Plattsburgh becomes the second program of all time to win three consecutive championships. (Middlebury: 2004, 2005, 2006)
- All 5 Plattsburgh national championships have been won on home ice.
- UW-River Falls finishes 2nd, the highest in program history, and becomes the first west team to reach the championship game since UW-Stevens Point in 2004.
- UW-River Falls reaches its 5th Frozen Four in program history, and its third consecutive.
- Elmira finishes in 3rd place for the 3rd time in program history. (2008, 2010)
- Middlebury advances to its 8th national semifinal, earning its 1st 4th place finish.
- Plattsburgh's championship marks the fifth straight title won by an ECAC West team. (RIT: 2012; Elmira: 2013; Plattsburgh: 2014, 2015)
Statistics[]
Skaters[]
| Player | Team | Pos. | Yr. | GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | SOG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melissa Sheeran | Plattsburgh | F | So. | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 11 |
| Giovanna Senese | Plattsburgh | F | Sr. | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 16 |
| Maddie Winslow | Middlebury | F | So. | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| Kayla Meneghin | Plattsburgh | F | So. | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| Louisa Lippiatt Durnell | Elmira | F | So. | 3 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Haley Nielsen | UW-River Falls | D | Fr. | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| Maddie Evangelous | Elmira | F | Fr. | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| Chloe Kinsel | UW-River Falls | F | Sr. | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 16 |
| Maddy Jerolman | Elmira | F | Fr. | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 11 |
| Jessica Young | Middlebury | F | So. | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| Dani Sibley | UW-River Falls | F | Jr. | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Erin Brand | Plattsburgh | D | Jr. | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 18 |
Goaltending[]
| Player | Team | Yr. | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camille Leonard | Plattsburgh | Jr. | 3 | 3 | 0 | 67 | 4 | 1.33 | .940 | 1 | 179:53 |
| Kyle Nelson | Elmira | Jr. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 86 | 6 | 1.90 | .930 | 0 | 189:36 |
| Julia Neuburger | Middlebury | So. | 2 | 1 | 1 | 54 | 5 | 2.54 | .907 | 1 | 118:04 |
| Angie Hall | UW-River Falls | So. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 89 | 9 | 2.85 | .899 | 0 | 189:36 |
All-Tournament Team[]
- F: Giovanna Senise- Plattsburgh
- F: Melissa Sheeran- Plattsburgh (MVP)
- F: Dani Sibley- UW-River Falls
- D: Erin Brand- Plattsburgh
- D: Paige Johnson- UW-River Falls
- G: Camille Leonard- Plattsburgh
