NCAA D-III Tournament field announced; Trinity and Amherst set to host games

Seniors Jackson Brewer (left) of Trinity and Aaron Deutsch (right) of Amherst

We'll have at least two more weeks of NESCAC hockey talk for the 2014-15 season.

The NCAA released the 11 team field for the 2015 D-III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament today and two 'CAC teams made the cut. Amherst, who earned an automatic bid with their 1-0 victory over Williams yesterday in the NESCAC Championship, will host a Quarerfinal game. Trinity received one of the three Pool-C or "at-large" bids and will host a play-in round game.

Both teams will have two weeks off between their last game and their first NCAA tournament game. Trinity - the overall first seed in the conference and the then top ranked team in the NCAA regional rankings - was upset by eigth seed Tufts in the Quarterfinals of the NESCAC tournament on February 21st. They had to play the waiting game for over a week to see if they would get in to the tournament. The Bantams, ranked 2E in the final public regional rankings last Tuesday, will host ECAC-Northeast champion Nichols (21-3-3) this Saturday, March 14th. The Bantams last played Nichols in December 2012, losing 3-2 to the Bison in a game that saw current Trinity senior Jackson Brewer (F, '15) score.

If the Bantams handle their business against underdog Nichols, Trinity will travel to frequent 'Cac foe Plattsburgh St. (20-5-2) on Saturday, March 21 for a Quartefinal game. The Cardinals made the tournament by beating bugbear Oswego in the SUNYAC champoinship on Saturday. As D3hockey.com editor Ray Biggs noted on twitter today, it's interesting that Platty, who likely wouldn't have gotten a Pool C bid if they had lost to OZ, got a bye.  Two of the Cardinals five loses came at the hands of the 'CAC, as Middlebury and Williams both traveled to Plattsburgh in mid-January and beat the Cardinals in the same weekend. Two weeks prior, Amherst also tied Platty 0-0 and ended up claiming the host Cardinals tournament in a shootout. Overall, the NESCAC is 2-1-1 against Plattsburgh this season.

For NESCAC champion Amherst, they are off until the March 21st Quarterfinals when they host the winner of the play-in round game between ECAC-East champion Norwich (24-3-1) and MASCAC champion Plymouth State (16-8-3). Barring a major upset, the Jeffs will face the Cadets, who are 1-1 against the NESCAC this year, beating Colby and losing to Middlebury in January. Amherst, who hasn't played on the road since Valentine's Day, is 14-1-0 at Orr Rink this season. One more win at home and they'll make it to the Final Four.

If both Trinity and Amherst make it to the Final Four in Minnessota on March 27th (knock on wood), they would not face each other until the championship game on March 28th should they both win. The Final Four is at Ridder Arena, home of the University of Minnesota's women's team.

Find the full bracket here.