2016-17 NEHC Women's Season

This is the 2016-17 New England Hockey Conference Women's hockey season.
==Membership Changes==
*none for 2016-17 but, the conference has decided to go to a Divison III only format for the 2017-18 season and has not renewed the contract of the St. Anselm Hawks to play in the conference.
*On July 5, 2016 the Nichols Bison announced they were joining the Colonial Hockey Conference for the 2017-18 season
*In late October 2016 the Holy Cross Crusaders announced that they were elevating the women's program to Division I status with a conference affiliation to be announced in either December or January.  This move was in motion prior to the NEHC's D-III only plans as the men's program was rumored to be eventually replacing Notre Dame in Hockey East which is leaving the conference for the Big Ten Conference for 2017-18 season.
*Franklin Pierce Ravens and St. Michael's Purple Knights are also affected by the decision.  Both schools would join the Division I-II New England Women's Hockey Alliance as full Division II members
*In October it was announced that the Manhattanville Valiants would be joining the United Collegiate Hockey Conference for 2017-18.
*On January 25, 2017, the conference announced that the Johnson and Wales Wildcats, Suffolk Rams, and Salem State Vikings would be joining the conference for the 2018-19 season.  The men's teams from Johnson and Wales as well as Suffolk would be joining the conference as well
==Membership==
Team 	Location 	Arena
Castleton Spartans 	Castleton, Vermont 	Spartan Arena
Franklin Pierce Ravens 	Rindge, New Hampshire 	Jason Ritchie Ice Arena
Holy Cross Crusaders 	Worcester, Massachusetts	Hart Center
Manhattanville Valiants 	Purchase, New York 	Playland Ice Casino
New England College Pilgrims 	Henniker, New Hampshire 	Lee Clement Arena
Nichols Bison 	Dudley, Massachusetts 	Levy Rink
Norwich Cadets 	Northfield, Vermont 	Kreitzberg Arena
Plymouth State Panthers 	Plymouth, New Hampshire 	Hanaway Rink
Saint Anselm Hawks 	Goffstown, New Hampshire	Sullivan Arena
Salve Regina Seahawks 	Newport, Rhode Island 	St. George's School Ice Rink
Southern Maine Huskies 	Gorham, Maine 	USM Ice Arena
St. Michael's Purple Knights 	Colchester, Vermont 	C. Douglas Cairns Recreation Arena
Mass-Boston Beacons 	Boston, Massachusetts 	Beacons Ice Arena
University of New England Nor'Easters	Biddeford, Maine 	Harold Alfond Forum
==Standings==
New England Hockey Conference 	New England Hockey Conference	New England Hockey Conference	New England Hockey Conference	New England Hockey Conference	New England Hockey Conference	New England Hockey Conference	New England Hockey Conference	Overall Record	Overall Record	Overall Record	Overall Record	Overall Record	Overall Record
Team 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	GF 	GA 	Pts 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	GF 	GA
Saint Anselm Hawks 	17 	15 	1 	1 	99 	21 	31 	27 	22 	2 	3 	132 	35
Norwich Cadets 	17 	15 	2 	0 	89 	21 	30 	31 	23 	7 	1 	128 	48
Holy Cross Crusaders 	17 	14 	3 	0 	70 	25 	28 	27 	22 	5 	0 	100 	39
Manhattanville Valiants 	17 	12 	4 	1 	59 	43 	25 	28 	17 	9 	2 	97 	73
Franklin Pierce Ravens 	17 	12 	5 	0 	51 	28 	24 	27 	18 	7 	2 	101 	41
Mass-Boston Beacons 	17 	12 	5 	0 	38 	31 	24 	27 	19 	8 	0 	74 	50
Castleton Spartans 	17 	7 	8 	2 	38 	43 	16 	26 	8 	14 	4 	58 	75
University of New England Nor'Easters	17 	7 	9 	1 	38 	58 	15 	27 	11 	14 	2 	61 	84
Salve Regina Seahawks 	17 	5 	11 	1 	36 	52 	11 	26 	6 	19 	1 	49 	80
Plymouth State Panthers 	17 	4 	12 	1 	34 	59 	9 	26 	8 	16 	2 	63 	79
Southern Maine Huskies 	17 	4 	12 	1 	22 	46 	9 	26 	6 	19 	1 	49 	80
St. Michael's Purple Knights 	17 	4 	13 	0 	33 	68 	8 	25 	4 	21 	0 	37 	93
New England College Pilgrims 	17 	3 	14 	0 	26 	63 	6 	25 	5 	19 	1 	43 	86
Nichols Bison 	17 	1 	16 	0 	17 	92 	2 	25 	1 	23 	1 	20 	136
==NEHC Women's Open Tournament==
The four non-D-III teams and D-III Independent Sacred Heart Pioneers were invited to participate in a tournament sponsored by the conference.  The play-in game will be held February 22nd at the higher seeded team  The tournament semifinals and final are being hosted by Sacred Heart and the team was given a bye to the semifinals. Sacred Heart was seeded # 4 with Franklin Pierce seeded # 3; which would have normally placed Sacred Heart in the play-in game. The top seed plays the lowest seeded remaining team in the semifinals and Holy Cross plays the other remaining team in the semifinals.
===Play-In Game===
*Franklin Pierce Ravens defeated St. Michael's Purple Knights 3-1
===Semifinals===
*Saint Anselm Hawks vs Sacred Heart Pioneers 5-0
*Holy Cross Crusaders defeated Franklin Pierce Ravens 3-0
===Final===
*Saint Anselm Hawks defeated Holy Cross Crusaders 3-2 (ot)
==Conference Tournament==
===Format===
*Holy Cross is ineligible for the conference tournament as the school is Division I in all other sports
*St. Anselm Hawks and St. Michael's Purple Knights are ineligible for the conference tournament as the school is Division II in all other sports.
*The top 8 teams out of the remaining 11 qualify for the conference tournament.  The top seed plays the number 8 seed, number 2 plays number 7, number 3 plays number 6 and number 4 plays number 5 in the quarterfinals on February 27th.  The highest seeded semifinal winner host the semifinal and final rounds on March 4th and 5th.  The highest quarterfinal winner host the lowest seeded quarterfinals winner and the 2nd highest seeded quarterfinal winner is the "home" team against the 3rd seeded quarterfinal winner.  The semifinal winners meet on March 5th for the conference championship and the conference's automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Tournament.
===Quarterfinals===
*Norwich defeated Plymouth State 5-0
*Manhattanville defeated Southern Maine 6-2
*Mass-Boston defeated Salve Regina 3-1
*University of New England defeated Castleton 3-2
===Semifinals===
*Norwich defeated University of New England 4-2
*Manhattanville defeated Mass-Boston 4-2
===Final===
*Norwich defeated Manhattanville 5-0
Category:2016 in hockey
Category:New England Hockey Conference women's seasons