2003 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

The 2003 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 fourth time a national championship tournament at the Division III level had been held and was the second one sanctioned by the NCAA. 
==Format==
Seven teams qualify for the single elimination tournament.  This year's tournament expanded by one team from the tournament held the year before in 2002. The conference tournament champions of the ECAC East, ECAC West, MIAC, and NESCAC received automatic bids to the tournament. Three at-large bids were also selected, two of which come from the aforementioned automatic-qualifier conferences. This is the first year in which the ECAC West earned its own automatic bid, as the conference gained their seventh team. The Elmira Soaring Eagles were the top seed, earning a bye to the semifinals and were named host for the semifinal and final rounds. The first round games were held at campus sites on March 14 and 15. The semifinal and final rounds were held March 21 and 22, at Murray Athletic Center Arena of Elmira College.
== Bids ==
=== Automatic Bids ===
* Eastern College Athletic Conference East champion: Manhattanville Valiants (2nd appearance)
* Eastern College Athletic Conference West champion: Elmira Soaring Eagles (2nd appearance)
* Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion: St. Thomas Tommies (1st appearance)
* New England Small College Athletic Conference champion: Middlebury Panthers (2nd appearance^^)
=== At-Large Bids ===
==== Pool B (Teams from non-AQ conferences) ====
* Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons - NCHA* (1st appearance)
==== Pool C (Non-champs from all conferences) ====
* Bowdoin Polar Bears - NESCAC (2nd appearance)
* Williams Ephs - NESCAC (1st appearance^)
^^ = Middlebury appeared in the 2 AWCHA tournaments that predated the NCAA tournament
^ = Williams appeared in 1 of 2 AWCHA tournaments that predated the NCAA tournament
* = NCHA did not receive an automatic bid with only five teams, making them a pool B conference
== Misc. ==
* This is the 4th of 10 consecutive national postseason appearances (AWCHA or NCAA) for Middlebury.
* This is the 2nd of 7 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Manhattanville.
* This is the 2nd of 5 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Elmira.
* This is the 2nd of 4 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Bowdoin.
* Elmira hosted the Frozen Four for the second consecutive season as the highest overall seed.
* NESCAC earns 3 of the 7 available bids.
== Seeds ==
East
# Elmira (21-4-2)
# Manhattanville (25-3-0)
# Bowdoin (21-1-3)
# Middlebury (19-2-4)
# Williams (16-8-2)
West
# UW-River Falls (19-4-4)
# St. Thomas (19-6-2)
== Results ==
=== First Round ===
Held at campus sites
-Hunt Arena - River Falls, WI
-Playland Ice Casino - Rye, NY
-Dayton Arena - Brunswick, ME
=== Semifinals ===
Hosted by Elmira College: Murray Athletic Center Arena- Horseheads, NY
=== Third Place ===
Hosted by Elmira College: Murray Athletic Center Arena- Horseheads, NY
=== Championship ===
Hosted by Elmira College: Murray Athletic Center Arena- Horseheads, NY
== Bracket ==
== Tournament Notes ==
* Elmira wins back-to-back national championships in its first two seasons in program history, both won on home ice.
* Manhattanville finishes as national runner-up in back-to-back seasons.
* As of 2021-22, the 2003 tournament remains Bowdoin's highest national finish. (3rd)
* After four different formats in the first four years (including AWCHA), the seven-team format remains the same for nine years.
* There was no all-tournament team selected this year.
== Statistics ==
=== Skaters ===
Top Scorers
Player 	Team 	Pos. 	Yr. 	GP 	G 	A 	P
Kristin Sahlem 	Manhattanville 	F 	Sr. 	3 	3 	1 	4
Mandy Stokes 	UW-River Falls 	F 	Sr. 	3 	1 	3 	4
Laura Hurd 	Elmira 	F 	So. 	2 	1 	2 	3
Jaclyn O'Neil 	Elmira 	F 	Fr. 	2 	1 	2 	3
Gillian McDonald 	Bowdoin 	F 	Jr. 	3 	2 	1 	3
Marissa O'Neil 	Bowdoin 	F 	So. 	3 	2 	1 	3
Kirsti Anderson 	Bowdoin 	D 	So. 	3 	0 	3 	3
19 players tied with 2 points	19 players tied with 2 points	19 players tied with 2 points	19 players tied with 2 points	19 players tied with 2 points	19 players tied with 2 points	19 players tied with 2 points	19 players tied with 2 points
=== Goaltending ===
Top Goaltenders (minimum 80 minutes)
Player 	Team 	Yr.	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA 	SV% 	SO	TOI
Edith Racine 	Elmira 	So.	2 	2	0	62	2 	1.00	.968	0 	120:00
Emily McKissock	Bowdoin 	Sr.	3 	2	1	76	6 	2.02	.921	1 	178:36
Renee Kirnan 	Manhattanville	Jr.	2 	1	1	36	3 	2.04	.917	0 	88:35
Marlene Yaeger 	UW-River Falls	So.	3 	1	2	78	7 	2.36	.910	0 	178:06
Nicole Elliott 	Manhattanville	So.	2 	1	0	43	4 	2.62	.907	0 	91:35
Category:2003 in hockey
Category:NCAA Division III Tournaments