INDIANAPOLIS — The Plattsburgh State Cardinals, as expected, were seeded No. 1 for the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship Tournament, which will gt under way Wednesday night with three first-round games.

The Cardinals (24-1-2) have been ranked No. 1 in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll for 14 consecutive weeks. Plattsburgh earned one of six conference automatic berths with its 5-4 overtime victory over Oswego Saturday night in the SUNYAC championship game. The remaining five teams were selected at-large by the committee.

The championship playoff format involves three first-round games and four quarterfinal games that are played on the campuses of the participating institutions. All games in the championship are single elimination.

Plattsburgh will host the winner of Wednesday's contest sending Neumann College (17-9-2) to Elmira College (16-7-3). The quarterfinal game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Stafford Arena.

The other East quarterfinal will match the winners of Wednesday's games between Nichols (25-3-0) and host Hobart (19-6-2) and Babson (13-13-1) and Amherst (21-4-1).

In the West, Wisconsin-Superior (23-3-3) will host Gustavus Adolphus (17-10) while St. Scholastica (20-6-2) will journey to Wisconsin-Stour (22-5-2).

The four quarterfinal winners advance to Lake Placid for the semifinals and championship game, which will be conducted March 20-21. Plattsburgh State University and the Olympic Regional Development Authority will host the championship. Tickets may be purchased by calling 523-3330.

The championship game will be televised live on CBS College Sports Network Saturday, March 21, at 5 p.m. Eastern. The semifinal games are slated for 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 20.

In 2008, St. Norbert College claimed its first national championship title with a 2-0 win over Plattsburgh State at the 1980 Rink Herb Brooks Arena.

St. Norbert did not make it back to the NCAA tournament, nor did Middlebury College or Norwich University. Both fell in conference playoff action.

Tickets on sale tonight
PLATTSBURGH — The Plattsburgh State Athletic Department has announced that men's hockey tickets for the Cardinals' NCAA tournament quarterfinal round game (versus winner of Elmira and Neumann in the first round) will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday from 4 to 7 p.m. If there are any tickets remaining, they will be released on 5:30 p.m. before Saturday's game (7 p.m.; Stafford Ice Arena).

All tickets will be sold at the Field House Box Office or by phone at 564-4062 with a credit card. Tickets are $7 for adults and $3 for students. For more information, log on to http://www.plattsburgh.edu/athletics/cardathletics/tickets.php

Hill, Hince honored
PLATTSBURGH — The State University of New York Athletic Conference Monday announced its final men's hockey weekly awards for the 2008-09 season, and conference champion Plattsburgh State picked up two citations: Riley Hill as player of the week and Bryan Hince as goalie of the week.

A senior forward from Markham, Ont., Hill was named the SUNYAC tournament MVP after he had a goal and assist in the championship game win against Oswego, 5-4 in overtime. He scored the game-tying goal on the power play that forced overtime. He finished the tournament with two goals and four points along with eight shots and a plus-1 rating. He also earned the honor on March 2.

Hince, a sophomore out of Tillsonburg, Ont., was named to the SUNYAC All-Tournament Team for the second straight year. He helped the Cardinals to their second conference championship in a row, while recording a combined 55 saves in the semifinal and final games.



Cardinal men No. 1,
women ranked No. 3

MINNEAPOLIS — The Plattsburgh State men's and women's hockey teams rank No. 1 and No. 3 in the NCAA Division III polls, respectively, compiled by USCHO.com.

The Cardinal men (24-1-2) received 300 points and all 20 first-place votes for the second time in program history, winding up atop the national rankings for the first time ever. (Previous was No. 2 last season and during 1999-2000.) They have been in the top spot for the last 14 weeks, extending a school record that was originally six consecutive weeks.

On the women's side, the 22-4-2 Cardinals earned 112 points behind Gustavus (147) and Elmira (128). This snaps a three-season run as the year-end No. 1 in the final USCHO.com poll; Plattsburgh was No. 4 in 2005.

Final USCHO.com

Division III Men's Poll

Minneapolis

Team (votes) record pts last

1 Plattsburgh (20) 24-1-2 300 1

2 Wis.-Stout22-5-2 271 3

3 Wis.-Superior23-3-3 269 2

4 Amherst21-4-1 234 6

5 St. Scholastica20-6-2 210 5

6 Hobart19-6-2 199 4

7 Adrian27-1-1 146 7

8 Elmira16-7-3 132 11

9 Middlebury19-7-1 124 8

10 Manhattanville16-4-5 108 9

11 Oswego18-8-1 101 10

12 Neumann17-9-2 87 NR

13 Nichols25-3-0 72 13

14 St. Norbert19-8-1 67 12

15 Gstvs Adolphus17-10-0 57 14

Others Receiving Votes: Babson 10, St. Olaf 6, Curry 3, Castleton 1, Conn. College 1, New England College 1, Wentworth 1

The USCHO.com Poll is compiled weekly and consists of 20 voters, including 15 coaches of Division III programs and five men's hockey writers.



Final USCHO.com

Division III Women's Poll

Minneapolis

Team (votes) record pts last

1 Gstvs Adlphs (14)22-1-4 147 1

2 Elmira (1)22-4-1 128 5

3 Plattsburgh22-4-2 112 3

4 Middlebury19-3-4 102 6

5 RIT21-3-2 86 2

6 Amherst21-5-0 82 4

7 Wis.-River Falls19-5-3 71 7

8 St. Thomas18-5-3 33 8

9 Adrian18-6-1 27 9

10 Wis.-Stevens Pt16-6-6 16 10

Others Receiving Votes: Norwich 13, Wis.-Superior 4, Manhattanville 2, Neumann 2

The USCHO.com Poll is compiled weekly and consists of 15 voters, including 14 coaches of Division III programs and one women's hockey writer.