The 2024 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey tournament was the culmination of the 2023–24 season, the 39th such tournament in NCAA history. Hobart successfully defended its championship by defeating Trinity 2–0.[1] They became the first team to win consecutive championships since St. Norbert in 2011 and 2012.
| Teams | 13 |
|---|---|
| Finals site | |
| Champions | Hobart (2nd title) |
| Runner-up | Trinity (3rd title game) |
| Semifinalists | |
| Winning coach | Mark Taylor (2nd title) |
| MOP | Austin Mourar (Hobart) |
| Attendance | 1,736 (final) |
Qualifying teams edit
In January, the NCAA approved the addition of a 13th bid for this season's NCAA tournament.[2] The move was done to keep the ratio of 1:6.5 bids per Division III programs and, with the revival of MCLA, that necessitated 13 teams being part of the tournament field. The selection process remained unchanged and teams were sill selected according to the following manner: (Pool A) nine teams received bids as a result of being conference tournament champions from conferences that possessed an automatic bid, (Pool C) four additional teams received at-large bids based upon their records.[3]
| East | West | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth Type | Appearance | Last Bid | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth Type | Appearance | Last Bid |
| 1 | Hobart (1) | NEHC | 25–2–1 | Tournament Champion | 13th | 2023 | 1 | St. Norbert (3) | NCHA | 22–6–0 | Tournament Champion | 21st | 2022 |
| 2 | Trinity (2) | NESCAC | 21–3–1 | Tournament Champion | 9th | 2022 | 2 | Adrian | NCHA | 22–6–1 | At-Large | 12th | 2023 |
| 3 | Utica (4) | UCHC | 23–2–3 | Tournament Champion | 5th | 2023 | 3 | Wisconsin–Stevens Point | WIAC | 21–5–2 | Tournament Champion | 17th | 2023 |
| 4 | Plymouth State | MASCAC | 23–2–2 | Tournament Champion | 7th | 2023 | 4 | St. Olaf | MIAC | 16–9–2 | Tournament Champion | 3rd | 2022 |
| 5 | Elmira | NEHC | 19–7–1 | At-Large | 17th | 2022 | |||||||
| 6 | Geneseo State | SUNYAC | 21–5–0 | At-Large | 10th | 2022 | |||||||
| 7 | Curry | CCC | 20–5–1 | At-Large | 6th | 2023 | |||||||
| 8 | Endicott | CCC | 17–5–5 | Tournament Champion | 4th | 2023 | |||||||
| 9 | Cortland State | SUNYAC | 18–8–2 | Tournament Champion | 1st | Never | |||||||
Format edit
The tournament featured four rounds of play. All rounds were single-game elimination.
Because there were four western bids, those teams were all placed into the same bracket. The remaining nine (eastern) teams were arranged so that the top three teams received byes into the quarterfinal round. The eastern teams that began in the first round were sorted as follows: the fourth eastern seed would play the ninth eastern seed with the winner advancing to play the third eastern seed; the fifth eastern seed would play the eighth eastern seed with the winner advancing to play the second eastern seed; the sixth eastern seed would play the seventh eastern seed with the winner advancing to play the first eastern seed. The four brackets were arranged so that the winner of the one containing the first overall seed would play the winner of the bracket with the fourth overall seed. The higher-seeded team played host in all first round and quarterfinal matches.
Bracket edit
| First round March 9 | Quarterfinals March 16 | Semifinals March 21 | National Championship March 23 | ||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Trinity (2) | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| E5 | Elmira | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| E5 | Elmira | 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| E8 | Endicott | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Trinity (2) | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Adrian | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| W1 | St. Norbert (3) | 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| W4 | St. Olaf | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| W1 | St. Norbert (3) | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Adrian | 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Adrian | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Wisconsin–Stevens Point | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Trinity (2) | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Hobart (1) | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Hobart (1) | 4**** | |||||||||||||||||
| E7 | Curry | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| E6 | Geneseo State | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| E7 | Curry | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Hobart (1) | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Utica (4) | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Utica (4) | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| E4 | Plymouth State | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| E4 | Plymouth State | 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| E9 | Cortland State | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
All-Tournament Team edit
- G: Damon Beaver (Hobart)
- D: Austin Mourar* (Hobart)
- D: John Campomenosi (Trinity)
- F: Tanner Hartman (Hobart)
- F: Luke Aquaro (Hobart)
- F: James Barbour (Trinity)
Record by conference edit
| Conference | # of Bids | Record | Win % | Quarterfinals | Frozen Four | Championship Game | Champions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NEHC | 2 | 4–1 | .800 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| NCHA | 2 | 3–2 | .600 | 2 | 1 | - | - |
| CCC | 2 | 1–2 | .333 | 1 | - | - | - |
| SUNYAC | 2 | 0–2 | .000 | - | - | - | - |
| NESCAC | 1 | 2–1 | .667 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
| UCHC | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| MASCAC | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | - | - | - |
| MIAC | 1 | 0–1 | .000 | - | - | - | - |
| WIAC | 1 | 0–1 | .000 | - | - | - | - |
References edit
- ^ a b "NCAA D-III Men's Hockey Championship Game: Hobart goes back to back, downs Trinity 2-0". USCHO. March 23, 2024. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
- ^ "NCAA approves addition of 13th team to Division III men's hockey tournament, starting with 2024 event". USCHO. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
- ^ "2024 NCAA DIII men's ice hockey championship: Selection show information, schedule". NCAA.com. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
- "Division III Men's Ice Hockey Record Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved February 17, 2020.