The NCAA Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Committee has announced the field of nine teams for the 2005 Division III Men’s hockey championship. Manhattanville, St. John’s and Trinity received at-large bids, while six conferences have been awarded automatic qualification. <\/p>\n
The championship playoff format involves a single first-round game and four second-round games that are played on the campuses of the participating institutions. All games in the championship are single elimination. The four second-round winners advance to a site to be determined on the campus of one of the competing institutions for the semifinals and championship game, which will be conducted March 18-19.<\/p>\n
Teams from conferences receiving automatic bids are:<\/p>\n
ECAC East: New England College
\nECAC Northeast: Curry (19-5-3)
\nSUNYAC: Geneseo (18-6-4)
\nMIAC: St. Thomas (17-5-5)
\nNESCAC: Middlebury (20-4-3)
\nNCHA: St. Norbert (24-2-3)<\/p>\n
Manhattanville received the Pool B at-large bid.<\/p>\n
St. John’s and Trinity received the two Pool C bids.<\/p>\n
The first-round matchup will be a rematch of the MIAC conference championship, with St. John’s hosting St. Thomas on Wednesday, March 9. The winner of that game will face St. Norbert in the tournament’s second round on Saturday, March 12.<\/p>\n
Other second-round games include Trinity at Geneseo, New England College at Manhattanville, and Curry at Middlebury.<\/p>\n