INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) on Monday morning announced the eight-team field for its Division III Women’s Hockey Championship and Gustavus (17-6-3) is selected as an at-large bid to face the University of Wisconsin-River Falls (26-2-0) in the first round at 7 p.m. Friday, March 10. The first round game will be hosted by the Falcons’ Hunt Arena in River Falls, Wis., while the final four teams will compete March 17-18 at a location to be determined.
UW-River Falls earned an automatic bid as the playoff champion of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference after defeating UW-Eau Clarie 3-2 in overtime for the O’Brien Cup.
Gustavus and UW-River Falls faced each other Dec. 7 and 10 this season. The Falcons won the first game of the series 3-0 in River Falls, and then completed the sweep with a 4-1 win in St. Peter. Since that series, Gustavus went on 13-game unbeaten streak (11-0-2) before falling to St. Thomas 3-2 in overtime in the MIAC playoff semifinal. The Falcons’ last loss was a 3-1 decision on Feb. 10 at UW-Eau Claire.
Gustavus last made an appearance at the NCAA Championships in 2013 when it defeated UW-River Falls 2-1 in the opening round, followed by a 4-3 loss to Elmira and 4-0 loss to Plattsburgh in the final four. This is the 11th appearance by Gustavus at the NCAA Championships and ninth straight for UW-River Falls.
Good luck Gusties! AZ fans cheering for you!