2011 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Tournament

The 2011 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 twelfth time a national championship tournament at the Division III level had been held and was the tenth one sanctioned by the NCAA.
==Format==
Seven teams qualify for the single elimination tournament. The conference tournament champions of the ECAC East, ECAC West, MIAC, NCHA, and NESCAC received automatic bids to the tournament. Two at-large bids were also selected. Because of a geographical divide and NCAA first round travel restrictions, and intra-conference bracketing principles, the Norwich Cadets received a bye into the semifinals, rather than the top overall seed (RIT) or next highest eastern seed (Middlebury). The first round games were held at campus sites on March 11 and 12. The semifinal and final rounds were held March 18 and 19 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: Manhattanville Valiants (8th appearance)
* Eastern College Athletic Conference West champion: RIT Tigers (2nd appearance)
* Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion: Gustavus Adolphus Golden Gusties (9th appearance^)
* New England Small College Athletic Conference champion: Middlebury Panthers (9th appearance^^)
* Northern Collegiate Hockey Association champion: Adrian Bulldogs (1st appearance)
=== At-Large Bids ===
==== Pool C (Non-champs from all conferences) ====
* Norwich Cadets - ECAC East (3rd appearance)
* Wisconsin-River Falls - NCHA (4th 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. ==
* Four teams make the tournament that did not do so the previous season, a never-before-seen feat (Adrian, Manhattanville, Middlebury, RIT)
* This is the 8th of 10 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Gustavus.
* This is the 3rd of 9 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for UW-River Falls.
* This is the 3rd of 7 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Norwich.
*This is the 1st of 3 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for Middlebury.
* Plattsburgh misses the national postseason for the first time since 2003, previously making seven straight NCAA trips.
* The NCHA gets two bids for the second time in conference history, the first coming in 2006.
* The ECAC East gets two bids for the first time since 2007.
* RIT becomes the fifth school to host the Frozen Four, and the second consecutive first-time host after Gustavus did so the prior year.
* Due to the bracketing and budgeting conflict, Norwich becomes the highest-seeded team (5th) to ever receive a bye into the semifinals in the 7-team field era (2003-2011).
* RIT becomes the first team to make the NCAA Tournament as a member of multiple conferences. (2007: ECAC East, 2011: ECAC West)
== Seeds ==
East
# RIT (24-1-2)
# Middlebury (21-4-1)
# Norwich (23-4-1)
# Manhattanville (19-7-2)
West
# UW-River Falls (24-1-4)
# Gustavus (21-3-3)
# Adrian (19-7-3)
== Results ==
=== First Round ===
Held at campus sites
-Hunt Arena- River Falls, WI
-Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena- Henrietta, NY
-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 the prior season, Norwich wins its first national title in program history.
* RIT finishes as national runner-up for the first time in program history.
* RIT becomes the first host to reach the title game since 2008.
* Middlebury, fresh off its only non-playoff appearance, finishes 3rd for the second time in three seasons.
* Gustavus claims its third 4th place finish in program history and its second in a row.
* Norwich becomes the first ECAC East team to win a national title. (ECAC East teams were previously 0-4 in championship games)
== Statistics ==
=== Skaters ===
Top Scorers
Player 	Team 	Pos.	Yr.	GP	G	A	P 	+/-	PIM	SOG
Kourtney Kunichika	RIT 	F 	Fr.	3 	5	5	10	5 	4 	8
Sophie Leclerc 	Norwich 	F 	Sr.	2 	2	4	6 	0 	0 	11
Jenna Christensen 	Gustavus	F 	So.	3 	4	2	6 	2 	2 	5
Tenecia Hiller 	RIT 	F 	So.	3 	1	5	6 	3 	8 	7
Julie Fortier 	Norwich 	F 	Jr.	2 	3	2	5 	1 	4 	12
Melissa Rundlett 	Norwich 	F 	Jr.	2 	3	2	5 	5 	2 	6
Katie Stack 	RIT 	F 	Sr.	3 	3	2	5 	3 	6 	17
Traci Galbraith 	RIT 	D 	Sr.	3 	2	3	5 	2 	2 	10
Ariane Yokoyama 	RIT 	F 	So.	3 	0	5	5 	5 	8 	3
=== Goaltending ===
Top Goaltenders (minimum 90 minutes played)
Player 	Team 	Yr.	GP	W	L	SA 	GA	GAA 	SV% 	SO	TOI
Alexi Bloom 	Middlebury	Sr.	3 	2	1	74 	4 	1.34	.946	2 	178:29
Laura Chamberlain	RIT 	Fr.	3 	2	1	101	8 	2.70	.921	0 	177:53
Cindy Fortin 	Norwich 	Sr.	2 	2	0	62 	6 	3.00	.903	0 	120:00
Danielle Justice 	Gustavus 	Jr.	3 	1	2	72 	11	3.68	.847	0 	179:26
=== All-Tournament Team ===
* F: Julie Fortier- Norwich
* F: Lauren Greer- Middlebury
* F: Sophie Leclerc- Norwich
* F: Melissa Rundlett- Norwich
* D: Traci Galbraith- RIT
* G: Cindy Fortin- Norwich
Category:2011 in hockey