2022 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey tournament

The 2022 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 2021–22 season, the 37th such tournament in NCAA history. Because of the Covid-19 Pandemic, it was the first tournament held since 2019. The top ranked team in the nation, Adrian, won the program's first national championship.

2022 NCAA Division III men's
ice hockey tournament
Teams12
Finals site
ChampionsAdrian (1st title)
Runner-upGeneseo State (1st title game)
Semifinalists
Winning coachAdam Krug (1st title)
MOPSam Ruffin (Adrian)
Attendance1,980 (final)

Qualifying teams

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Twelve teams qualified for the tournament in the following ways: (Pool A) eight teams received bids as a result of being conference tournament champions from conferences that possessed an automatic bid, (Pool C) four additional teams received at-large bids based upon their records.[1]

East West
Seed School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid Seed School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid
1 Utica (2) UCHC 25–2–1 Tournament Champion 3rd 2020 1 Adrian (1) NCHA 28–1–0 Tournament Champion 10th 2020
2 Geneseo State (3) SUNYAC 22–3–1 Tournament Champion 9th 2020 2 Augsburg (4) MIAC 24–4–0 At–Large 7th 2019
3 Babson NEHC 19–5–2 Tournament Champion 16th 2020 3 St. Norbert NCHA 23–6–0 At–Large 20th 2019
4 Hobart NEHC 19–5–2 At–Large 11th 2020 4 St. Olaf MIAC 11–14–3 Tournament Champion 2nd 2006
5 University of New England CCC 21–3–1 Tournament Champion 3rd 2019
6 Elmira NEHC 18–6–2 At–Large 16th 2012
7 Plymouth State MASCAC 19–5–2 Tournament Champion 5th 2020
8 Trinity NESCAC 17–7–1 Tournament Champion 8th 2019

Format

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The tournament featured four rounds of play. All rounds were single-game elimination.

The top four rated teams received byes into the quarterfinal round and were arranged so that if they were to advance to the semifinals, the first seed would play the fourth seed and the second seed would play the third seed. Because two western teams received byes, the two eastern schools that were furthest west geographically, and did not receive byes, were placed in the same quarterfinal bracket and set to play against the eastern-most of the two western teams to receive byes. This was done so that the travel distance for the victor would be as short as possible. The remaining two western teams were placed in the same quarterfinal bracket as the other western quarterfinalist.

The remaining four eastern teams were arranged so that the highest-ranked first round team would play the lowest-ranked first round team with the winner advancing to play the lower eastern quarterfinalist. The higher-ranked of the two eastern quarterfinalists would play the winner of the final first round game.

In the First Round and Quarterfinals the higher-seeded team served as host. Beginning with the semifinals, all games were held at the Herb Brooks Arena.

Tournament Bracket

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First Round
March 12
Quarterfinals
March 19
Semifinals
March 25
National Championship
March 26
W1 Adrian (1) 7
E4 Hobart 4 E4 Hobart 2
E6 Elmira 2 W1 Adrian (1) 5
W2 Augsburg (4) 1
W2 Augsburg (4) 4
W3 St. Norbert 4* W3 St. Norbert 1
W4 St. Olaf 3 W1 Adrian (1) 5
E2 Geneseo State (3) 2
E2 Geneseo State (3) 3
E3 Babson 3 E3 Babson 2
E8 Trinity 0 E2 Geneseo State (3) 8
E5 University of New England 3
E1 Utica (2) 0
E5 University of New England 3** E5 University of New England 2
E7 Plymouth State 2

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

  • G: Cameron Gray (Adrian)
  • D: Matthew Doran (Geneseo State)
  • D: Matt Eller (Adrian)
  • F: Dan Bosio (Geneseo State)
  • F: Trevor Coykendall (Adrian)
  • F: Sam Ruffin* (Adrian)

* Most Outstanding Player(s)

Record by conference

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Conference # of Bids Record Win % Frozen Four Championship Game Champions
NCHA 2 4–1 .800 1 1 1
MIAC 2 1–2 .333 1 - -
NEHC 2 2–2 .500 - - -
UCHC 2 0–2 .000 - - -
SUNYAC 1 2–1 .667 1 1 -
CCC 1 2–1 .667 1 - -
NESCAC 1 0–1 .000 - - -
MASCAC 1 0–1 .000 - - -

References

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  1. ^ "NCAA Division III men's hockey tournament". USCHO.com. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
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