Reading, Pa. (March 29, 2021) - The United Collegiate Hockey Conference has announced seedings and pairings for the 2021 UCHC Women's Championship Tournament. Later this week, eight teams will embark on a single elimination tournament to see who takes home the 2021 Pat Thompson Trophy.

Alvernia will compete in the tournament as the #7 seed and will head to #3 Chatham University on Thursday, April 1st for a 4 PM game.

The Golden Wolves are competing in the UCHC playoff for the first time in program history.

The standings for the 2020-21 season were seeded using points percentage due to scheduling imbalances caused by COVID-19 protocols. Points percentage is determined by dividing a team's standings point total, by the number of points it could have earned in the games it has played. Games played was also a factor in seeding, with a team only able to earn home ice with 50 percent or more of its scheduled league games played.

Alvernia finished the regular season 3-4 and earned 9 points for a 42.9% points percentage. They finished tied with Manhattanville in record and points percentage, but the Valiants had the head-to-head tiebreaker after defeating Alvernia 3-2 in the regular season finale on Sunday night.

The Golden Wolves are 0-1 against Chatham on the season after falling to the Cougars 5-2 two weeks ago.

Alvernia's offense is led by Lexi Hooper who has five goals and two assists on the season, she is followed by Ioanna Christou and Amber Steinhilpert, who each have five points on the year. In net, Julia Beaven is 3-1 on the year with two shutouts. She has a .940 save percentage with 126 saves and a 1.88 goals against average.

Chatham is entering the tournament with their best conference tournament seed in program history after a 6-5 conference record and a points percentage of 54.5%. Chatham is the oldest program in the UCHC and finished with a winning record for the first time.

Chatham's offense is led by Allison Corser-James, who has 12 goals and six assists on the season. She scored two goals and an assist in her first meeting with Alvernia earlier this season.

Elmira College earned the top seed with a perfect points percentage after an undefeated and untied conference schedule. Elmira has won every women's regular season and postseason championship in the conference's existence.

Stevenson will be the second overall seed. The Mustangs had a point percentage of 83.3 percent and were 7-1-0 in conference play.

Utica College will secure the fourth seed with a points percentage of 50 percent. They earned 12 of a possible 24 points with a record of 4-4-0.

Nazareth College will be the fifth seed. The Golden Flyers have an outstanding 80 percent points percentage and were third in the league standings. However, Nazareth was only able to play in five of a scheduled twelve league games. Per adopted conference measures for this season, any team who falls under 50 percent of games played in the league season is not eligible to receive a top four position.

Manhattanville will be the sixth seed after earning nine of a possible 21 points. They have a 42.9 percent points percentage and a 3-4 record. 

The eighth and final seed, Neumann, logged a points percentage of 37 percent.

Lebanon Valley and Wilkes do not make the tournament field.

Pairings and schedule are below.

UCHC Championship Tentative Schedule:
(Higher Seed Will Host, Dates and Times May be Subject to Change)

Please Note: Traditionally, the quarterfinals would be grouped on a (8v1, 4v5, 2v7, 3v6) basis. However, the conference membership agreed to limit early round travel to a maximum of approximately 250 miles whenever it is feasible to do so. Under the traditional alignment, Manhattanville would have traveled to Chatham, but the pairing has the longest trip in the conference to play each other. To accommodate more favorable travel arrangements, the commissioner has paired Manhattanville with Stevenson, and Chatham with Alvernia. 

Quarterfinals: Thursday, April 1st
No. 8 Neumann at No. 1 Elmira, 7 PM
No. 6 Manhattanville at No. 2 Stevenson
No. 7 Alvernia at No. 3 Chatham
No. 5 Nazareth at No. 4 Utica

Semifinals: Saturday, April 3rd
Highest Remaining Seed vs. Lowest
Two Other Remaining Teams in Other Semifinal

Finals: Tuesday, April 6th
Semifinal Winners