TheNCAA Division III women's ice hockey is acollege ice hockey competition governed by theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as part of theNCAA Division III (DIII or D3). Sixty-seven teams competed in NCAA Division III women's hockey across eight conferences in the 2023–24 season.
Conference affiliations and the conferences themselves experienced numerous changes in the later part of the 2010s. The most substantial alterations occurred with the founding of theColonial Hockey Conference (CHC) in 2015 and the folding ofECAC West in 2017, which precipitated the creation of theNortheast Women's Hockey League (NEWHL) in the same year. The conferences and affiliations presented below are accurate through the 2019–20 season.[1]
A conference with seven or more affiliated programs automatically qualifies for theNCAA DIII Women's Ice Hockey Tournament.[2] In practice, the Colonial Hockey Conference (CHC) and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) are the only conferences that do not receive automatic bids for the tournament.
TheAnna Maria Amcats women's ice hockey program ofAnna Maria College inPaxton, Massachusetts has participated in the NCAA Division III as an independent team (ie. without conference affiliation) since the 2018–19 season.[3]
TheConference of New England (CNE; known before the 2024–25 season as the Commonwealth Coast Conference) is a college athletic conference which operates inNew England. It added women's ice hockey by taking over the formerColonial Hockey Conference (CHC; previously ECAC North Atlantic) in 2020. As of the 2024–25 season, there are six member programs:
TheMinnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) is a college athletic conference located inMinnesota. The women's ice hockey programs that compete in the MIAC include:[4]
The most recent change to the MIAC membership came after the 2020–21 season, when St. Thomas was expelled from the league and moved toNCAA Division I, joining theSummit League for most sports and theWestern Collegiate Hockey Association (WHCA) in women's ice hockey.[5] St. Thomas was replaced by St. Scholastica.
TheNew England Hockey Conference (NEHC; previously ECAC East) is an ice hockey-only conference which operates inNew England. As of the 2019–20 season, there are nine member programs in the women's division:
TheNew England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is a college athletic conference of liberal arts colleges and universities located inNew England andNew York. The member schools of the NESCAC are often referred to as the "Little Ivies." The women's ice hockey programs competing in the NESCAC are:[6]
TheNortheast Women's Hockey League (NEWHL; successor of ECAC West) is a women's ice hockey-only conference comprising seven member schools inNew York. It was founded in 2017 by the women's ice hockey teams of five schools in theState University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC); its membership was increased to seven programs in 2019–20. The programs competing in the NEWHL are:
TheNorthern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) is a hockey-only conference, which operates inIllinois,Indiana,Michigan, andWisconsin.[7] The women's programs competing in the NCHA are:
TheUnited Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) is a hockey-only conference which operates in theMid-Atlantic region. The women's programs competing in the UCHC are:
TheWisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) is a collegiate athletics conference inWisconsin, primarily comprising institutions in theUniversity of Wisconsin System. The women's ice hockey programs participating in the WIAC are:
| Year | Champion | Score | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Elmira | 2–1 | Manhattanville |
| 2003 | Elmira | 5–1 | Manhattanville |
| 2004 | Middlebury | 2–1 | UW-Stevens Point |
| 2005 | Middlebury | 4–3 | Elmira |
| 2006 | Middlebury | 3–1 | Plattsburgh |
| 2007 | Plattsburgh | 2–1 | Middlebury |
| 2008 | Plattsburgh | 3–2 | Manhattanville |
| 2009 | Amherst | 4–3 (OT) | Elmira |
| 2010 | Amherst | 7–2 | Norwich |
| 2011 | Norwich | 5–2 | RIT |
| 2012 | RIT | 4–1 | Norwich |
| 2013 | Elmira | 1–0 | Middlebury |
| 2014 | Plattsburgh | 9–2 | Norwich |
| 2015 | Plattsburgh | 3–2 | Elmira |
| 2016 | Plattsburgh | 5–1 | UW–River Falls |
| 2017 | Plattsburgh | 4–3 (OT) | Adrian |
| 2018 | Norwich | 2–1 | Elmira |
| 2019 | Plattsburgh | 4–0 | Hamline |
| 2020-2021 | Cancelled due to thecoronavirus pandemic | ||
| 2022 | Middlebury | 3–2 (OT) | Gustavus Adolphus |
| 2023 | Gustavus Adolphus | 2–1 (3OT) | Amherst |
| 2024 | UW–River Falls | 4–1 | Elmira |
The Laura Hurd Award is an annual award given to the top player in NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey as awarded by theAmerican Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA). 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.[8]
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