Women’s Division II Announces Final Ranking of 2022-23 Season, Confirms 2023 National Championships Contenders
The 16 women’s division 2 teams set to participate at Nationals are officially confirmed
TROY, Mich. – Feb. 28, 2023 – The American Collegiate Hockey Association’s Women’s Division II (W2) is pleased to announce the sixth and final ranking of the 2022-2023 season. The results below are based on a total of 469 sanctioned games played between W2 teams through Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023.
The 2023 ACHA National Championships presented by FloHockey will be held at the New England Sports Center (NESC) in Marlborough, Mass. The W2 tournament will begin on March 16, and the championship game will be played on March 20, 2023. The following 16 teams are the official W2 contenders for the 2023 National Championships.
2023 W2 Nationals Contenders
NORTHEAST REGION
- Assumption University
- Providence College
- University of Vermont
- Northeastern University
SOUTHEAST REGION
- Villanova University
- U.S. Naval Academy
- University of Delaware
- Rowan University
- Niagara University
CENTRAL REGION
- Sault College
- Adrian College
- Central Michigan University
- Michigan State University
WEST REGION
- Assiniboine Community College
- Dakota College Bottineau
- North Dakota State University
The above listing also indicates each team’s seed assignment for the W2 Nationals game schedule. The 16 participating W2 teams will be divided into four pools of four. Pool assignments for each seed were pre-determined. Every team will play three games – the three other teams in their pool. The winners of each pool will advance to the semi-final games on March 19. More information such as the W2 pool assignments, game schedules and more can be found here. The full details of the final ranking of the season can be found here.
Details About Rankings & Invitations to Nationals
Invitations to 2023 Nationals were extended to the top-ranking W2 teams in each region based on the final ranking of the season, with auto bids also playing a role in the final teams invited.
At the start of the season, the division voted that the 2023 National Championships would include the following number of W2 teams from each region:
- Northeast region: 4 invitations
- Southeast region: 5 invitations
- West region: 3 invitations
- Central region: 4 invitations
The following four conferences recognized by the ACHA with at least six W2 ACHA member teams were offered an automatic bid for their top team to the 2023 W2 National Championships. Note that auto bids are secondary to the ranking process. If a team that was already ranked in a qualifying spot for their region won an auto bid, the auto bid had no impact. If a team that was not ranked in a qualifying spot for their region won the auto bid, that team replaced the lowest ranked team in their region.
- Central Collegiate Women’s Hockey Association (CCWHA) winner – Sault College
- College Hockey East (CHE) winner – Niagara University
- Women’s Delaware Valley College Hockey Conference (DVCHC) winner – US Naval Academy
- Independent Women’s Club Ice Hockey League (IWCHL) winner – Assumption University
The following teams declared they would not attend the 2023 National Championships or otherwise did not meet the minimum requirements to be eligible upon the final ranking:
- Worcester Polytech Institute, Saint Anselm College, University of Connecticut, University of New England, University of Tampa, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, George Washington University, University of Wisconsin Stout, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bowling Green State University, Lawrence Technological University, University of Nebraska, University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse.
For more information about W2 policies and procedures, please review the ACHA manual.
