2012 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

The 2012 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 thirteenth time a national championship tournament at the Division III level had been held and was the eleventh one sanctioned by the NCAA.
==Format==
Eight teams qualify for the single elimination tournament. This year's tournament field expanded by one team from the previous tournament held in 2011. The conference tournament champions of the ECAC East, ECAC West, MIAC, NCHA, and NESCAC received automatic bids to the tournament. Three at-large bids were also selected. The first round games were held at campus sites on March 10. The semifinal and final rounds were held March 16 and 17 at Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena of Rochester Institute of Technology, the highest remaining seed in the tournament.
== Bids ==
=== Automatic Bids ===
* Eastern College Athletic Conference East champion: Norwich Cadets (4th appearance)
* Eastern College Athletic Conference West champion: RIT Tigers (3rd appearance)
* Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion: Gustavus Adolphus Golden Gusties (10th appearance^)
* New England Small College Athletic Conference champion: Middlebury Panthers (10th appearance^^)
* Northern Collegiate Hockey Association champion: Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons (5th appearance)
=== At-Large Bids ===
==== Pool C (Non-champs from all conferences) ====
* Amherst Lady Jeffs - NESCAC (5th appearance)
* Concordia (MN) Cobbers - MIAC (1st appearance)
* Plattsburgh Cardinals - ECAC West (8th 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
== Misc. ==
* Five of the eight schools who earned bids appeared in the previous season's NCAA tournament
* This is the 9th of 10 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Gustavus.
* This is the 4th of 9 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for UW-River Falls.
* This is the 4th of 7 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Norwich.
* This is the 2nd of 3 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Middlebury.
* This is the 1st of an active 12 consecutive NCAA tournament appearance streak for Plattsburgh.
* As of 2023, this remains as Concordia's only NCAA tournament appearance.
* The MIAC gets two bids for the second time in conference history, the first coming in 2002.
* RIT becomes the third school to host the Frozen Four in consecutive seasons. (Elmira: 2002, 2003; Plattsburgh: 2006, 2007, 2008)
* Because of unsolvable distance problems, Concordia becomes the first team to be flown to their tournament game before the Frozen Four in NCAA tournament history.
== Seeds ==
East
# RIT (25-1-1)
# Norwich (25-2-1)
# Middlebury (21-3-3)
# Amherst (21-5-1)
# Plattsburgh (18-6-3)
West
# Gustavus (23-2-2)
# UW-River Falls (23-4-2)
# Concordia-MN (15-5-5)
== Results ==
=== Quarterfinals ===
Held at campus sites
-Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena- Henrietta, NY-Kreitzberg Arena- Northfield, VT-Don Roberts Ice Rink- St. Peter, MN-Chip Kenyon `85 Arena- Middlebury, VT
=== Semifinals ===
Hosted by Rochester Institute of Technology: Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena- Henrietta, NY
=== Third Place ===
Hosted by Rochester Institute of Technology: Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena- Henrietta, NY
=== Championship ===
Hosted by Rochester Institute of Technology: Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena- Henrietta, NY
== Bracket ==
== Tournament Notes ==
* After losing the championship to Norwich the prior season, RIT wins its first national title in program history, in what was its last-ever season of play at the Division III level, reclassifying to Division I for the following season.
* Norwich reaches the national championship game for the third consecutive season.
* RIT becomes the first host to win the championship since 2008.
* 3 of the 4 games at the Frozen Four go to overtime, a new record.
* No NESCAC team makes the Frozen Four for the first time in the history of the NCAA Tournament.
* Gustavus claims its fourth 4th place finish in program history and its third in a row.
* The loss by Norwich drops ECAC East teams to 1-5 all-time in the national championship.
* UW-River Falls drops its opening tournament game for the third consecutive season.
* The eight-team format remains the same for six years.
== Statistics ==
=== Skaters ===
Top Scorers
Player 	Team 	Pos.	Yr.	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	SOG
Allie Schwab 	Gustavus 	F 	Sr.	3 	3	2	5	-4 	2 	12
Kourtney Kunichika	RIT 	F 	So.	3 	1	4	5	3 	0 	11
Jenny Kistner 	Plattsburgh	F 	So.	3 	0	5	5	2 	2 	12
Kolbee McCrea 	RIT 	F 	So.	3 	3	1	4	3 	2 	19
Jillayne DeBus 	Norwich 	F 	Jr.	3 	3	1	4	4 	0 	8
Amanda Cartony 	Gustavus 	F 	So.	3 	1	3	4	-1 	4 	8
Teal Gove 	Plattsburgh	F 	Jr.	3 	3	0	3	1 	2 	10
Julie Fortier 	Norwich 	F 	Sr.	3 	2	1	3	0 	0 	9
Lindsey Hjelm 	Gustavus 	D 	Jr.	3 	2	1	3	-1 	8 	7
Celeste Brown 	RIT 	F 	Fr.	3 	1	2	3	3 	0 	5
Tenecia Hiller 	RIT 	F 	Jr.	3 	1	2	3	2 	0 	5
Tyne Gove 	Norwich 	F 	Fr.	3 	0	3	3	3 	0 	4
Sarianne Lynn 	Norwich 	D 	Sr.	3 	0	3	3	8 	0 	9
=== Goaltending ===
Top Goaltenders (minimum 90 minutes played)
Player 	Team 	Yr.	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA 	SV% 	SO	TOI
Laura Chamberlain	RIT 	So.	3 	3	0	75	4 	1.32	.947	0 	182:30
Sydney Aveson 	Plattsburgh	Jr.	3 	2	1	93	7 	2.27	.925	0 	185:01
Kelly Fisk 	Norwich 	So.	3 	2	1	81	7 	2.31	.914	1 	181:44
Danielle Justice 	Gustavus 	Sr.	3 	1	2	93	10	3.21	.892	0 	186:53
=== All-Tournament Team ===
* MOP: Laura Chamberlain (G)- RIT
* F: Julie Fortier- Norwich
* F: Jenny Kistner- Plattsburgh
* F: Kourtney Kunichika- RIT
* D: Sarianne Lynn- Norwich
* D: Kristina Moss- RIT
* G: Kelly Fisk- Norwich
Category:2012 in ice hockey