NCAA Tournament Bracket

The top-ranked Middlebury women's hockey team will make its 17th NCAA Tournament appearance when it hosts #8 Endicott in a quarterfinal contest on Saturday, March 12 at 3:00 p.m. in Kenyon Arena. The top-ranked and undefeated Panthers (24-0-0) earned the home game by capturing an automatic bid to the tournament, defeating Amherst 2-0 in the NESCAC Championship.

Tickets will go on sale Wednesday, March 9 at 10:00 a.m. and are priced at $6 for adults, $4 for youth under 21 and $3 for children 12 and under. Children aged two and under are free and do not require a ticket. Tickets for Middlebury students with ID are free and available at the Peterson Family Athletic Complex box office beginning one hour before the game. Tickets can be purchased at the Mahaney Arts Center Box Office, by calling 802-443-6433 or by clicking here to purchase tickets online. Advance ticket sales will end at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 11.  All remaining tickets will be available for purchase at the door starting at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Middlebury previously qualified for the NCAA Tournament from 2002-10 as well as 2012, 2013 and 2015-2018. The Panthers won three-straight national titles from 2004-06, advancing to the finals in 2007 and 2013. In 2020, Middlebury received an at-large bid and was slated to host Endicott, before the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19. Prior to the NCAA Tournament, the Panthers captured the 2000 and 2001 AWCHA National Championship tournaments. Middlebury has the third-most NCAA Tournament victories (17-13) in Division III history.

The Panthers enter the tournament riding a 24-game winning streak, which ties the program record for consecutive victories, a mark set over parts of the 2004-05 season and 2005-06 seasons.

Saturday's game will be the first meeting between the two schools in the postseason, with Middlebury going a perfect 7-0 in the short series that started in 2015-16. The teams met twice this season with the Panthers coming away with a pair of 2-1 victories.

Middlebury is first nationally in team defense, giving up a mere 0.66 goals against per game with 10 shutouts. The squad boasts one of the top goalie tandems in the country with rookie Sophia Merageas and senior Caroline Silk both seeing plenty of time in the crease. Merageas is a perfect 17-0-0 with five shutouts, sporting a .82 goals against average (GAA) and a .958 save percentage. She leads the NESCAC and is ranked in the top-two nationally in both categories. Silk has won all seven of her starts with four coming via shutouts. She has a minuscule .30 GAA with a .978 save percentage.

On the blue line, a pair of All-NESCAC selections anchor the Panther defensive unit. Junior Claudia Vira was named to the first team, while classmate Eva Hendrikson received second-team laurels. Vira is the leading scorer among defenders with 15 points (6G, 9A), while Hendrikson (2G, 12A) is one point behind. First-year Sabrina Kim has had a strong year with 12 assists, while rookie Cece Ziegler (1G, 4A), senior Alexis Ryan (2G, 2A) and sophomore Julia Johnson (3G, 1A) round out the talented group.

Offensively, the Panthers are led by 2022 NESCAC Player of the Year Madie Leidt. The senior captain tops the conference in goals (17) and points with 29. In addition, Leidt is second nationally with seven game-winning goals and has recorded a pair of hat tricks this season. Junior Jenna Letterie, an All-NESCAC First-Team honoree, is the conference's leader in assists (23) and is second in points (28). Senior Katie Hargrave ranks fourth in conference scoring, registering nine goals and 16 assists. Sophomore Cat Appleyard has been a force on the special teams, tying for the national lead with nine power-play tallies. For the season, she has 24 points (12G, 12A) to rank among the NESCAC leaders. Junior Ashley McDonald has been a key factor on the penalty kill, helping the team rank among the country's elite in face-off percentage.

First-years Kylie Quinlan and Raia Schluter have provided scoring depth for Middlebury this season. Quinlan has five goals and nine points, while Schluter has three goals and eight points with all three of her tallies being game-winners.

Head coach Bill Mandigo, the 2022 NESCAC Coach of the Year, is now in his 33rd season at the helm of the Panthers. He has a career record of 622 wins, 158 losses and 48 ties, giving him more wins than any other coach in any division in the history of women's college hockey.

Mandigo led the team to American Women's Hockey Coaches Association (AWHCA) National titles in 2000 and 2001, before taking three-consecutive NCAA Championship in 2004, 2005 and 2006. His teams have also captured 11 NESCAC Championships and have 19 or more wins in 23 of the last 26 seasons.

The Endicott program began in 2015-16 with former Panther Andy McPhee '98 at the helm. It didn't take the team long to become a national qualifier, as the Gulls advanced to their conference championship game for three-straight seasons, before capturing back-to-back titles (2019, 2020). McPhee served as an assistant coach under Mandigo for two seasons at Middlebury in 1998-99 and 1999-2000. He later became the head coach at Trinity from 2002-11, before assisting at Brown for the next three seasons.

Endicott enters the tournament with a record of 19-4-1 after winning the inaugural Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship. The Gulls won back-to-back Colonial Hockey Conference (CHC) titles (2018-19, 2019-20) before the league's rebrand to the CCC in 2020-21. The Gulls enter the game ranked eighth nationally and are making their third-straight NCAA appearance.

Senior Courtney Sullivan tops Endicott in scoring with 23 points (16G, 7A), while junior Kat Keith (8G, 11A) and senior Jacy Kuhlman (13G, 6A) are tied for second. Junior defender Madison Hentosh has a team-best 13 assists.

Junior goalies Bailey Thieben and Michaela O'Brien have split time in net this season. Thieben is 9-1-0 with a .80 GAA and a .945 save percentage, while O'Brien has a record of 10-3-1 with a 1.12 GAA and a .947 save percentage. O'Brien played both games in the conference tournament, allowing one goal on 30 shots.

2022 NCAA Division III Women's Hockey Tournament
First-Round, Wednesday, March 9
UW-River Falls 7, Aurora 0
Gustavus Adolphus 3, UW-Eau Claire 0
 
Quarterfinals, Saturday, March 12
Endicott (19-4-1) @ Middlebury (24-0-0) – 3:00 p.m.
Colby (16-5-1) @ Plattsburgh State (24-2-1) – 3:00 p.m.
Elmira (24-2-1) @ Nazareth (27-1-0) – 3:00 p.m.
Gustavus Adolphus (23-3-2) @ UW.-River Falls (27-1-0) – 4:00 p.m.
 
Semifinals, Friday, March 18 – 3:00/7:00 p.m.
Third-Place Game/Championship – Saturday, March 19– 3:00/7:00 p.m.