1990 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
The 1990 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 1989–90 season, the 7th such tournament in NCAA history. It concluded with Wisconsin-Stevens Point defeating Plattsburgh State in the championship series 1-0 in the deciding minigame. All Quarterfinals matchups were held at home team venues, while all succeeding games were played in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
| Teams | 8 |
|---|---|
| Finals site |
|
| Champions | Wisconsin–Stevens Point Pointers (2nd title) |
| Runner-up | Plattsburgh State Cardinals (1st title game) |
| Semifinalists |
|
| Winning coach | Mark Mazzoleni (2nd title) |
| MOP | Paul Caulfield, (Wisconsin–Stevens Point) |
| Attendance | 15,825 |
Qualifying teams
The following teams qualified for the tournament. There were no automatic bids, however, conference tournament champions were given preferential consideration. No formal seeding was used while quarter and semifinal matches were arranged so that the road teams would have the shortest possible travel distances. Because the semifinal series were played at home team venues the NCAA elected to select an equal amount of eastern and western teams.
| East | West | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| School | Conference | Record | Berth Type | Appearance | Last Bid | School | Conference | Record | Berth Type | Appearance | Last Bid |
| Babson | ECAC East | 18–3–4 | At-Large | 7th | 1989 | Gustavus Adolphus | MIAC | 20–5–4 | Tournament Champion | 1st | Never |
| Elmira | ECAC West | 23–7–1 | Tournament Champion | 3rd | 1988 | Mankato State | NCHA | 14–13–6 | At-Large | 3rd | 1986 |
| Geneseo State | ECAC West | 23–9–0 | At-Large | 1st | Never | St. Thomas | MIAC | 19–7–0 | At-Large | 5th | 1988 |
| Plattsburgh State | ECAC West | 20–8–1 | At-Large | 2nd | 1988 | Wisconsin–Stevens Point | NCHA | 25–3–4 | Tournament Champion | 3rd | 1989 |
Format
The tournament featured three rounds of play. Starting in 1988, each round of the tournament consisted of a two-game series where the first team to reach 3 points was declared a winner (2 points for winning a game, 1 point each for tying). If both teams ended up with 2 points after the first two games a 20-minute mini-game used to determine a winner. Mini-game scores are in italics. The teams were seeded according to geographic proximity in the quarterfinals so the visiting team would have the shortest feasible distance to travel.
Tournament Bracket
| Quarterfinals March 9–11 |
Semifinals March 16–17 |
National Championship March 23–24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elmira | 5 | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Plattsburgh State | 2 | 4 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Plattsburgh State | 4 | 4 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Babson | 4 | 4 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Babson | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Geneseo State | 3 | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Plattsburgh State | 1 | 6 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin–Stevens Point | 10 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin–Stevens Point | 4 | 3 | - | |||||||||||||||||||||
| St. Thomas | 4 | 0 | - | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin–Stevens Point | 5 | 3 | - | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mankato State | 4 | 3 | - | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mankato State | 4 | 2 | - | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Gustavus Adolphus | 1 | 2 | - | |||||||||||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Note: Mini-games in italics
Record by conference
| Conference | # of Bids | Record | Win % | Frozen Four | Championship Game | Champions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ECAC West | 3 | 3–3–4 | .500 | 1 | 1 | - |
| NCHA | 2 | 4–2–4 | .600 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| MIAC | 2 | 0–2–2 | .250 | - | - | - |
| ECAC East | 1 | 0–0–4 | .500 | 1 | - | - |