NCAA Division III Field Released

Courtesy of the NCAA
The NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Committee has announced the seven teams selected for the 2010 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Championship. Of the seven teams selected, five of the teams received automatic qualification berths as winners of their conference championship. Two institutions were selected from Pool C, which consists of institutions from automatic-qualifying conferences that were not the conference champion.

Conferences and teams receiving automatic qualification:

ECAC DIII Women's East Hockey League: Norwich University
ECAC DIII Women's West Hockey League: Elmira College
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Gustavus Adolphus College
New England Small College Athletic Conference: Amherst College
Northern Collegiate Hockey Association: University of Wisconsin, River Falls

The two at-large selections are Plattsburgh State University of New York and Trinity College (Connecticut).

Three first-round games will be played at campus sites March 12, 13 or 14. Dates and times for these games will be announced Monday. The four remaining teams will play in the semifinals March 19 on the campus of the winner of the game between Gustavus Adolphus and Wisconsin-River Falls. The finals and third-place game will be held March 20. The semifinals, third-place game and finals will be available for broadband viewing online. Go to www.ncaa.com for more information.

Highlights of the NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Championship will be shown on CBS at 1 p.m. Eastern time, Saturday, May 1. "CBS Sports Presents Championships of the NCAA"

will feature highlights of 17 different NCAA championships, each taking place during the winter season.

In 2009, Amherst Women's ice hockey team won its first ever national title in overtime. Amherst was tied 3-3 with Elmira after regulation, and junior all-American Kate Dennett scored the winning goal in the overtime period. Only three institutions (Elmira, Middlebury College and Plattsburgh State) had won the NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Championship title prior to Amherst, and the Lord Jeffs defeated all three to win the title.

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First Round Games:

UW-River Falls @ Gustavus - 2pm CT
Trinity @ Elmira - 3pm ET
Norwich @ SUNY-Plattsburgh - 3pm ET