INDIANAPOLIS -- The University of New England will entertain Plymouth State University in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship this coming Saturday (March 12, 7 p.m.), as the 12-team tournament field was announced Monday morning (Mar. 7) by the national committee on NCAA.com.

Interactive bracket: 2022 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship
Complete NCAA release / Selection Show

The Nor'easters take a 21-3-1 ledger into their third national championship appearance, riding an 11-game winning streak. UNE captured its second Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) crown over the weekend in dramatic fashion, defeating Endicott College in overtime by a 3-2 margin. The league's top seed trailed twice in the 3rd period, but netted the tying goal with 48 seconds left in regulation. In earlier postseason rounds, the Nor'easters took out eighth seed Western New England University (4-1) and sixth seed Nichols College (4-1).

In previous NCAA trips, UNE hosted an opening-round contest in 2018. The Nor'easters are 1-1 in first round games after winning a road match in 2019; that squad then dropped an overtime decision in the national quarterfinals.

Plymouth State comes in boasting a 19-5-2 record following its 8-4 win in the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) final against sixth-seeded Salem State. It was the fifth postseason tournament victory for the Panthers, who make it into the NCAA field for a fifth time, and are 0-3 during the initial weekend of the championship (2020 was canceled).

The Nor'easters are 2-1-1 all-time against PSU. The only meeting in the last five years was right in the middle of the 2018-19 season -- a back-and-forth battle in Biddeford resulting in a 3-3 tie. 

The winner between UNE and the Panthers will advance to the quarterfinals on March 19 and visit Utica College (25-2-1), which received a first-round bye after securing the AQ from the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC). 

Spectator information for Saturday will become available later in the week.