2023 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey tournament

The 2023 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 2022–23 season, the 38th such tournament in NCAA history. Hobart defeated defending champion Adrian 3–2 in overtime to win the program's first national championship.

2023 NCAA Division III men's
ice hockey tournament

Teams	12
Finals site	Raymond J. Bourque Arena Beverly, Massachusetts
Champions	Hobart (1st title)
Runner-up	Adrian (3rd title game)
Semifinalists	University of New England (2nd Frozen Four) Endicott (1st Frozen Four)
Winning coach	Mark Taylor (1st title)
MOP	Damon Beaver (Hobart)
Attendance	812 (final)

Qualifying teams

Before the season, the NCAA amended its bylaws, lowering the requirement for conferences to receive automatic qualifiers from seven conference members to six. This meant that the WIAC champion would now be guaranteed a spot in the tournament field.

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

East							West
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type	Appearance	Last Bid	Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type	Appearance	Last Bid
1	Utica (1)	UCHC	25–2–1	Tournament Champion	4th	2022	1	Adrian (4)	NCHA	23–4–2	Tournament Champion	11th	2022
2	Endicott (2)	CCC	22–2–2	Tournament Champion	3rd	2020	2	Wisconsin–Stevens Point	WIAC	19–5–4	Tournament Champion	16th	2019
3	Hobart (3)	NEHC	26–2–0	Tournament Champion	12th	2022	3	Augsburg	MIAC	16–9–2	Tournament Champion	8th	2022
4	Curry	CCC	21–5–1	At-Large	5th	2011
5	Plattsburgh State	SUNYAC	20–5–2	Tournament Champion	20th	2017
6	Plymouth State	MASCAC	23–3–1	Tournament Champion	6th	2022
7	University of New England	CCC	19–6–2	At-Large	4th	2022
8	Norwich	NEHC	19–6–2	At-Large	20th	2020
9	Bowdoin	NESCAC	14–9–3	Tournament Champion	7th	2014

Format

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 there were three western teams and only one received a bye into the quarterfinals, all three were placed into the same bracket. Of the nine eastern teams, the six that did not receive byes were arranged so that the fourth eastern seed played the ninth eastern seed with the winner advancing to play the third eastern seed; the fifth eastern seed played the eighth eastern seed with the winner advancing to play the second eastern seed; and the sixth eastern seed played the seventh eastern seed with the winner advancing to play the first eastern seed. The higher-seeded team played host in all first round and quarterfinal matches.

Bracket

First round March 11

Quarterfinals March 18

Semifinals March 24

National Championship March 25

E1

Utica (1)

4

E6

Plymouth State

0

E7

University of New England

5*

E7

University of New England

2

E7

University of New England

7

W1

Adrian (4)

8*

W1

Adrian (4)

3*

W2

Wisconsin–Stevens Point

2****

W2

Wisconsin–Stevens Point

2

W3

Augsburg

1

W1

Adrian (4)

2

E3

Hobart (3)

3*

E2

Endicott (2)

3

E5

Plattsburgh State

1

E8

Norwich

0

E8

Norwich

2*

E2

Endicott (2)

1

E3

Hobart (3)

3

E3

Hobart (3)

5

E4

Curry

1*

E4

Curry

1

E9

Bowdoin

0

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Results

First round

March 11, 2023 7:00 PM

(E6) Plymouth State

0 – 2 (0–0, 0–0, 0–2)

(E7) University of New England

Plymouth State University Ice Arena – Holderness, New Hampshire Attendance: 1,145

Game reference
	Brendahn Brawley	Goalies	Billy Girard	Referees: Ronald Morello Matthew Hallock Linesmen: Patrick Sharron Kevin McManus
	0–1 47:38 – Ryan Kuzmich (15) (Fuss, Sheehy) 0–2 59:38 – EN – Chad Merrell (1) (Sciucco, DiScanio)
	4 min	Penalties	4 min
	28	Shots	25

March 11, 2023 9:00 PM

(W2) Wisconsin–Stevens Point

2 – 1 (4OT) (0–1, 1–0, 0–0, 0–0, 0–0, 0–0, 1–0)

(W3) Augsburg

K.B. Willett Arena – Stevens Point, Wisconsin Attendance: 1,662

Game reference
	Ryan Wagner	Goalies	Samuel Vyletelka	Referees: Adam Knutson Eric Thorn Linesmen: Jason Peters Cody Koemptgen
	0–1 13:11 – PP – Erik Palmqvist (1) (Chladek, Reichenbacher) (Heneghan, Hill) Cody Moline (1) – 30:15 1–1 (Moline, Moberg) David Hill (1) – 129:27 2–1
	12 min	Penalties	14 min
	74	Shots	48

March 11, 2023 7:00 PM

(E5) Plattsburgh State

1 – 2 (OT) (0–0, 1–0, 0–1, 0–1)

(E8) Norwich

Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena – Plattsburgh, New York Attendance: 2,577

Game reference
	Eli Shiller	Goalies	Drennen Atherton	Referees: Chris Shepley Trevor Waite Linesmen: Ryan Merrimack Rick Urnek
	(Thomas, Belgrave) Jake Lanyi (8) – 23:01 1–0 1–1 59:40 – Philip Elgstam (9) (Chladek, Reichenbacher) 1–2 69:54 – Callum Jones (2) (Thibodeau, Doggett)
	0 min	Penalties	0 min
	30	Shots	40

March 11, 2023 7:00 PM

(E4) Curry

1 – 0 (OT) (0–0, 0–0, 0–0, 1–0)

(E9) Bowdoin

Canton Ice House – Canton, Massachusetts Attendance: 603

Game reference
	Reid Cooper	Goalies	Alexander Kozic	Referees: Kenneth Gates Matthew Fuller Linesmen: Steven Riley Jr. Patrick Philbin
	(Kent, Galassi) Mark Zhukov (13) – 71:02 1–0
	2 min	Penalties	8 min
	49	Shots	37

Quarterfinals

March 18, 2023 7:00 PM

(E1) Utica

4 – 5 (OT) (0–0, 1–3, 3–1, 1–0)

(E7) University of New England

Utica University Nexus Center – Utica, New York Attendance: 3,978

Game reference
	Bryan Landsberger	Goalies	Billy Girard	Referee: Matthew Terreri Linesmen: Matthew Fuller Anthony Perez
	(Larsson, Zapata) Buster Larsson (10) – PP – 25:53 1–0 1–1 26:11 – SH – Anthony Sciucco (7) (Merrell) 1–2 30:15 – PP – Garrett Devine (10) (Heinold, Courtmanche) 1–3 34:16 – Kevin O'Keefe (1) (Devine, Winslow) 1–4 40:45 – Logan DiScanio (7) (Szretter, Winslow) (Cavanagh, Moncovich) Justin Allen (5) – 45:52 2–4 (unassisted) Brandon Osmundson (8) – 57:31 3–4 (Fedorek, Zapata) Buster Larsson (11) – 58:13 4–4 4–5 65:00 – Anthony Sciucco (8) (Winslow, Discanio)
	4 min	Penalties	6 min
	62	Shots	28

March 18, 2023 7:00 PM

(W1) Adrian

3 – 2 (OT) (1–1, 1–1, 0–0, 1–0)

(W2) Wisconsin–Stevens Point

Arrington Ice Arena – Adrian, Michigan Attendance: 1,259

Game reference
	Nic Tallarico	Goalies	Ryan Wagner	Referees: Shane Dillon Eric Thom Linesmen: Trenton Gerew David Sell
	(Shields) Alessio Luciani (11) – 04:48 1–0 1–1 16:01 – PP – Andrew Poulias (14) (Sciarrino, Heneghan) (Enns, Spodniak) Alessio Luciani (12) – PP – 22:19 2–1 2–2 26:42 – Dawson Sciarrino (8) (Anderson, Gonrowski) (Enns, Shields) Matus Spodniak – (28) – 69:38 3–2
	6 min	Penalties	10 min
	36	Shots	39

March 18, 2023 7:00 PM

(E2) Endicott

3 – 0 (0–0, 0–0, 3–0)

(E8) Norwich

Raymond J. Bourque Arena – Beverly, Massachusetts Attendance: 1,200

Game reference
	Atticus Kelly	Goalies	Drennen Atherton	Referee: Ronald Morello Linesmen: Douglas Place Patrick Philbin
	(Sterrett, Kurapov) Ryan Willett (8) – 43:26 1–0 (Self, Amsley) Noah Strawn (8) – 57:30 2–0 (Martinelli, Ring) Cameron Speck (4) – 57:49 3–0
	4 min	Penalties	2 min
	39	Shots	25

March 18, 2023 7:00 PM

(E3) Hobart

5 – 1 (0–0, 3–1, 2–0)

(E4) Curry

Geneva Recreation Complex – Geneva, New York Attendance: 580

Game reference
	Damon Beaver	Goalies	Reid Cooper	Referees: Derek Sylvester Matthew Hallock Linesmen: Dan Barreca Cameron Goebert
	0–1 28:56 – PP – Tarek Paranica (8) (Pitts, Vonakis) (Aquaro, Wuth) Brenden Howell (6) – 36:50 1–1 (Buzoverya) Cooper Swift (2) – 37:13 2–1 (Howell, Crane) Kahlil Fontana (2) – 37:25 3–1 (Tyson) Tanner Daniels (10) – 43:38 4–1 (unassisted) Ignat Belov (11) – EN – 59:47 5–1
	2 min	Penalties	4 min
	35	Shots	18

Semifinals

March 24, 2023 3:00 PM

(W1) Adrian

8 – 7 (OT) (2–1, 1–4, 4–2, 1–0)

(E7) University of New England

Raymond J. Bourque Arena – Beverly, Massachusetts Attendance: 610

Game reference
	Nic Tallarico Dershahn Stewart	Goalies	Billy Girard	Referees: Matthew Hallock Ed Moberg Linesmen: Patrick Philbin Robert Griffin
	(Enns, Babiak) Jake Suede (7) – 03:50 1–0 (Shields) Riley Murphy (17) – 13:53 2–0 2–1 16:10 – PP – Garrett Devine (11) (Heinold, Courtmanche) 2–2 21:09 – PP – Alex Sheehy (3) (DiScanio, Courtmanche) 2–3 22:17 – Dawson Ellis (3) (Fuss, Christy) 2–4 26:17 – Chad Merrell (2) (Kuzmich, Devine) 2–5 30:26 – Collin Heinold (6) (Fuss, Merrell) (Murphy, Wendt) Bradley Somers (7) – 34:55 3–5 (Spodniak, Shields) Ty Enns (19) – PP – 40:45 4–5 (unassited) Ryan Pitoscia (13) – SH – 47:52 5–5 (Suede, Heintz) Ty Enns (20) – 50:06 6–5 6–6 45:00 – Daniel Winslow (17) (unassited) 6–7 45:51 – Jared Christy (13) (Fuss) (Somers) Ryan Pitoscia (14) – 58:51 7–7 (Enns, Shields) Alessio Luciani (13) – PP – 66:34 8–7
	6 min	Penalties	19 min
	44	Shots	35

March 24, 2023 7:00 PM

(E2) Endicott

1 – 3 (0–0, 1–1, 0–2)

(E3) Hobart

Raymond J. Bourque Arena – Beverly, Massachusetts Attendance: 1,110

Game reference
	Ryan Wilson	Goalies	Damon Beaver	Referee: Matthew Terreri Linesmen: Matthew Fuller Dan Barreca
	(unassisted) Jackson Sterrett (13) – 24:34 1–0 1–1 32:59 – Brenden Howell (7) (Wuth, Buzoverya) 1–2 53:09 – PP – Austin Mourar (4) (Shell, Swift) 1–3 59:21 – EN – Luke Aquaro (20) (Wuth, Swift)
	12 min	Penalties	8 min
	26	Shots	26

National Championship

March 25, 2023 7:00 PM

(W1) Adrian

2 – 3 (OT) (1–2, 0–0, 1–0, 0–1)

(E3) Hobart

Raymond J. Bourque Arena – Beverly, Massachusetts Attendance: 812

Game reference
	Nic Tallarico	Goalies	Damon Beaver	Referees: Matt Fuller Matt Terreri Linesmen: Dan Barecca Cam Goebert
	0–1 07:24 – Shane Shell (4) (Aquaro, Alexander) 0–2 11:23 – Luke Aquaro (21) (unassited) (Rehding, Luciani) Ty Enns (21) – PP – 12:19 1–2 (Rehding, Luciani) Matus Spodniak (29) – 54:30 2–2 2–3 74:56 – Wil Crane (5) (Lassman, Burke)
	6 min	Penalties	6 min
	39	Shots	35

All-Tournament Team

• G: Damon Beaver* (Hobart)
• D: Austin Mourar (Hobart)
• D: Jaden Shields (Adrian)
• F: Luke Aquaro (Hobart)
• F: Wil Crane (Hobart)
• F: Ty Enns (Adrian)

* Most Outstanding Player(s)

Record by conference

Conference	# of Bids	Record	Win %	Quarterfinals	Frozen Four	Championship Game	Champions
CCC	3	4–3	.571	3	2	-	-
NEHC	2	4–1	.800	2	1	1	1
MASCAC	1	0–1	.000	-	-	-	-
MIAC	1	0–1	.000	-	-	-	-
NCHA	1	2–1	.667	1	1	1	-
NESCAC	1	0–1	.000	-	-	-	-
SUNYAC	1	0–1	.000	-	-	-	-
UCHC	1	0–1	.000	1	-	-	-
WIAC	1	1–1	.500	1	-	-	-

References

• "Division III Men's Ice Hockey Record Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved February 17, 2020.

External links

• 2023 Division III Bracket