2023 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

The 2023 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 twenty-third (twenty-second completed) time a national championship tournament at the Division III level had been held and was the twenty-first (twentieth completed) one sanctioned by the NCAA. 
== Format ==
Eleven teams qualify for the single elimination tournament. This year's tournament field expanded by one team from the previous tournament held in 2022. The conference tournament champions of the CCC, MIAC, NCHA, NEHC, NESCAC, NEWHL, and UCHC received automatic bids to the tournament. Four at-large bids were also selected, one guaranteed to a school from a non-automatic-qualifier conference. The first round games were held at campus sites on March 8. The quarterfinal games were held at campus sites on March 11. The semifinal and final rounds were held March 17 and 19 at Orr Rink of Amherst College, the highest remaining seed in the tournament.
==Bids==
===Automatic Bids===
* Commonwealth Coast Conference champion: Suffolk Rams (1st appearance)
* Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion: Gustavus Adolphus Golden Gusties (16th appearance^)
* New England Hockey Conference champion: Norwich Cadets (12th appearance)
* New England Small College Athletic Conference champion: Amherst Mammoths (8th appearance)
* Northeast Women's Hockey League champion: Plattsburgh Cardinals (18th appearance)
* Northern Collegiate Hockey Association champion: Adrian Bulldogs (7th appearance)
* United Collegiate Hockey Conference champion: Nazareth Golden Flyers (2nd appearance)
===At-Large Bids===
==== Pool B (Teams from non-AQ conferences) ====
* Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons - WIAC* (14th appearance)
==== Pool C (Teams from all conferences) ====
* Colby Mules - NESCAC (2nd appearance)
* Hamilton Continentals - NESCAC (1st appearance)
* Middlebury Panthers - NESCAC (18th appearance^^)
^^ = Middlebury appeared in the 2 AWCHA tournaments that predated the NCAA tournament
^ = Gustavus appeared in 1 of 2 AWCHA tournaments that predated the NCAA tournament
* = WIAC did not receive an automatic bid with only five teams, making them a pool B conference
== Misc. ==
* Six of the eleven schools who earned bids appeared in the previous NCAA tournament.
* This is the 11th of an active 12 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance streak for Plattsburgh.
* This is the 4th of an active 5 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance streak for UW-River Falls.
* This is the 3rd of an active 4 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance streak for Gustavus.
* This is the 3rd of an active 4 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance streak for Middlebury.
* The NESCAC gets a record four bids, including all three Pool C bids.
* The NESCAC earns multiple bids for the third straight tournament.
* Elmira misses its first NCAA Tournament since 2012.
* UW-Eau Claire misses its first NCAA Tournament since 2017.
* The NCAA's bracket included a potential quarterfinal flight (which did come to fruition) for the first time by choice in order to try to protect bracket integrity.
* Amherst hosts its first-ever Frozen Four.
* This is the first tournament since the 3rd-place game was eliminated by the NCAA, giving the finalists a day off in between the semifinals and title game.
== Seeds (Determined by Pairwise Rankings) ==
# Amherst (24-3-0)
# Plattsburgh (25-2-0)
# Gustavus (24-3-0)
# Adrian (26-3-0)
# Hamilton (20-5-2)
# UW-River Falls (24-3-1)
# Middlebury (16-7-3)
# Colby (17-7-0)
# Norwich (19-7-2)
# Nazareth (22-5-1)
# Suffolk (18-7-2)
==Results==
===First Round===
Held at campus sites
-Jack Kelley Rink- Waterville, ME-Chip Kenyon '85 Arena- Middlebury, VT-Sage Rink- Clinton, NY
===Quarterfinals===
Held at campus sites
-Orr Rink- Amherst, MA-Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena- Plattsburgh, NY-Arrington Ice Arena- Adrian, MI-Don Roberts Ice Rink- St. Peter, MN
===Semifinals===
Hosted by Amherst College: Orr Rink- Amherst, MA
===Championship===
Hosted by Amherst College: Orr Rink- Amherst, MA
== Bracket ==
== Tournament Notes ==
* In its 16th NCAA tournament appearance, Gustavus wins its first ever national championship as a program.
* In the 22nd time a national championship is awarded, Gustavus becomes the first west region team to ever win the title.
* Amherst finishes as national runner-up for the first time in program history, falling to 2-1 in national title games.
* Amherst won a national title in 2010 at Gustavus' home rink, while Gustavus wins their first national title at Amherst's home rink.
* Plattsburgh reaches its 15th Frozen Four in program history, falling to the Gusties in the semifinal in back-to-back seasons.
* Hamilton reaches the semifinal round in its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance.
* The Amherst-Gustavus national championship lasts 101:33, marking the longest game in D-III women's hockey history. (Ironically, it passes the 2018 Gustavus-UW-Eau Claire first round game by just 31 seconds.)
* Gustavus plays in parts of five overtimes over their two Frozen Four games.
* Gustavus becomes the first team to win a national championship after losing the previous title game since RIT in 2012.
== Statistics ==
=== Skaters ===
Top Scorers
Player 	Team 	Pos.	Yr.	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	SOG
Jenna Letterie 	Middlebury 	F 	Sr.	2 	1	4	5	3 	2 	6
Britt Nawrocki 	Middlebury 	F 	Fr.	2 	2	2	4	2 	0 	9
Carley Daly 	Amherst 	F 	Sr.	3 	2	2	4	4 	2 	8
Avery McInerny 	Middlebury 	F 	Fr.	2 	2	1	3	2 	0 	11
Sara Krauseneck	Plattsburgh	F 	5th	2 	1	2	3	4 	2 	13
Julia Masotta 	Plattsburgh	F 	Sr.	2 	1	2	3	4 	0 	5
Maeve Reynolds 	Amherst 	F 	Fr.	3 	3	0	3	4 	0 	9
Hailey Holland 	Gustavus 	F 	Sr.	3 	2	1	3	1 	4 	23
Lily Mortenson 	Gustavus 	F 	Fr.	3 	2	1	3	2 	4 	11
Emily Olson 	Gustavus 	F 	Sr.	3 	1	2	3	1 	0 	9
Tina Press 	Gustavus 	F 	5th	3 	1	2	3	1 	0 	19
=== Goaltending ===
Top Goaltenders (minimum 110 minutes played)
Player 	Team 	Yr.	GP	W	L	SA 	GA	GAA 	SV% 	SO	TOI
Natalie Stott 	Amherst 	Fr.	3 	2	1	107	2 	0.54	.981	2 	220:49
Evie Sheridan 	Hamilton 	Fr.	3 	2	1	75 	2 	0.67	.973	1 	178:32
Katie McCoy 	Gustavus 	Sr.	3 	3	0	103	4 	0.97	.961	0 	248:01
Sophia Merageas	Middlebury 	Jr.	2 	1	1	58 	3 	1.52	.948	1 	118:42
Ashley Davis 	Plattsburgh	5th	2 	1	1	77 	5 	2.05	.935	0 	146:41
Paige Bolyard 	Colby 	So.	2 	1	1	54 	6 	3.00	.889	0 	120:00
=== All-Tournament Team ===
*F: Carley Daly- Amherst
*F: Lily Mortenson- Gustavus
*D: Gabby Slykas- Gustavus
*D: Kayla Vrieze- Gustavus
*G: Katie McCoy- Gustavus (MVP)
*G: Natalie Stott- Amherst
Category:2023 in hockey
Category:NCAA Division III Tournaments