Northeast-10 History Timeline
October 1, 1979 – Seven New England
colleges and universities form a new athletic conference (as yet
unnamed), to encompass several sports. The Colleges are American
International, Assumption, Bentley, Bryant, the University of
Hartford, Springfield and Stonehill. The new conference will
initially encompass men’s and women’s basketball,
baseball, men’s soccer, softball and women’s tennis.
The colleges selected for the conference are based on several
criteria, including proximity to each other, sports offered,
compatibility of athletic programs as well as the educational
philosophies of the institutions. Al Shields, Athletic Director at
Bentley , is also named the first conference commissioner. (The
“founding fathers” of the NE-10 began with Shields, Tom
Folliard of Stonehill, Leon Drury of Bryant and Andy Laska of
Assumption. The four later convinced Ed Steitz of Springfield,
Gordie McCullough of Hartford and Milt Piepul of American
International to join them.)
June 10, 1980 – After a year of planning,
New England’s newest athletic conference, the Northeast-7, is
officially announced as a reality. The unveiling of the conference
takes place at the Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton, Mass. by
Al Shields. The conference is recognized by the NCAA as an allied
member and will apply for automatic qualifying status to NCAA
tournament as soon as the two-year probationary period ends. Dick
Lipe, SID at Bentley, is named Assistant Commissioner and Director
of Publicity for the conference.
September 16, 1980 – The first Northeast-7
Conference contest takes place when AIC visits Assumption in
men’s soccer. Assumption wins the match, 2-1.
September 22, 1980 – Senior men’s
soccer forward John Szymko of Springfield College is named the
first ever Conference Player of the Week having scored four goals
in a 6-0 shutout of Stonehill earlier that week.
November 10, 1980 – Hartford wins the
inaugural Northeast-7 men’s soccer regular season title with
a 6-0-0 record, part of a 15-0-2 mark overall. There is no
post-season tournament.
December 11, 1980 – The first Northeast-7
basketball game takes place as host Bryant defeats Hartford,
76-69.
February 28, 1981 – Stonehill’s
men’s basketball team tops Springfield 74-68 in the first
conference tournament championship game.
March 1981 – The first baseball games takes
place under the NE-7 banner. In a doubleheader, Assumption tops
Stonehill 6-4, while Stonehill wins the second game, 16-6.
May 11, 1981 – Springfield wins the NE-7
regular season baseball championship. There is no post-season
tournament.
June 16, 1981 – The Northeast-8 is born as
the conference announces the addition of Saint Anselm College.
Saint Anselm’s acceptance is immediate, but the Hawks do not
begin conference competition until 1983-84 as schedules are
set.
October 1981 – Springfield wins the first
men’s cross country championship.
October 27, 1981 – The Northeast-8 is one of
the four conferences awarded an automatic qualifier to the NCAA
Division II women’s basketball championship, upon the
completion of its season in 1981-82. The NE-8 joins the California
Collegiate Athletic Association, Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic
Association and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in
receiving “AQ” status.
December 7, 1981 – Springfield defeats AIC
in the first NE-8 women’s basketball conference game.
February 21, 1981 – Bentley defeats Springfield
80-65 for the first women’s basketball tournament
championship.
April 1982 – Bryant wins the inaugural NE-8
golf championship at the Woonsocket (RI) Country Club, edging
runner-up Bentley by 24 strokes.
Summer, 1982 – The NE-8 is granted a NCAA
Division II championship automatic qualifier to its tournament
softball champion.
September 2, 1982 – The NE-8 is awarded an
automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division II Men’s basketball
championship.
April 3, 1983 – Stonehill and Assumption
split in a doubleheader in the first ever NE-8 softball games.
Stonehill wins the opener 7-0. Assumption wins the nightcap,
8-1.
October 8, 1983 – The first women’s
cross country championship race is run, with Springfield besting
the five team field with a low of 31 points, edging Bryant by five
points.
June 12, 1984 – Merrimack College accepts an
invitation to join the NE-8. Merrimack replaces Hartford, which
leaves the conference to join the Division I ECAC North
Atlantic.
September, 1984 – Springfield captures the
first NE-8 women’s tennis championship with 28 points.
November 11, 1984 – The first NE-8
men’s soccer tournament champion is crowned as Saint Anselm
downs Springfield, 2-1 in overtime.
March 1985 – American International, led by
future NBA standout Mario Elie, becomes the first NE-10 men’s
basketball program to reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division
II national championship tournament. The Yellow Jackets fall in the
Elite Eight to Kentucky Wesleyan, 76-73.
September 12, 1985 - Women’s Soccer debuts
as Stonehill shuts out host Saint Anselm, 2-0.
November 6, 1985 - Host and regular season
champion Springfield shut out Bryant 4-0 for the first
women’s soccer tournament championship.
June 23, 1986 – The conference announces it
will expand to 10 for the first time with the additions of
Quinnipiac College of Hamden, Conn. (from the NECC) and Saint
Michael’s College of Colchester, Vt (from the old MidEast
Conference). The name of the conference will soon be changed to the
Northeast-10.
November 17, 1986 – The Northeast-8 is given
permission to experiment with the three-point field goal in the
sport of women’s basketball. The three pointer will be used
in all conference games during the 1986-87 season.
July 1, 1987 – Quinnipiac and Saint Michael’s
join the conference, which is renamed the Northeast-10.
January 1989 - Bob Burke, Director of Athletics at
American International, is selected to serve as conference
commissioner. Ed Markey, AD at Saint Michael’s, is appointed
assistant commissioner.
August 23, 1989 – Gordie McCullough dies at
age 53.
May 21, 1990 – Edward S. Steitz dies at the
age of 69. Steitz served as AD at Springfield for 33 years,
retiring in 1989. He was a key influence in helping usher in the
three-point shot in college basketball.
March 21, 1994 – Men’s Lacrosse debuts
as a Northeast-10 sport. Bentley tops Assumption 15-5.
April 24, 1994 – Bentley wins the first NE-10
men’s lacrosse championship with a perfect 6-0 regular season
record.
May 1994 - Merrimack becomes the first conference
school to win a national championship. The Lady Warriors softball
team downs Humboldt State 6-2 for the Division II title.
June 1995 – The Northeast-10 shrinks to nine
when Springfield College resigns and changes its NCAA status to
Division III and joins the Constitution Athletic Conference.
May 2, 1995 - F. Paul Bogan is selected as the
third all time and first full-time commissioner of the conference.
Bogan assumes duties July 1.
June 1996 – Le Moyne College of Syracuse, NY
is accepted to the conference after resigning from the NECC.
July 1996 - The Eastern Football Conference is
formed. The 12-team league begins in 1997 and includes five NE-10
members.
September 7, 1996 - Field Hockey debuts as Saint
Michael’s downs host Assumption, 2-0.
October 14, 1996 – Quinnipiac announces it
will resign from the NE-10 and shift it’s programs to NCAA
Division I status as a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC).
The Braves join the NEC July 1, 1998.
November 3, 1996 - Bentley wins the inaugural
NE-10 field hockey championship over Saint Michael’s 1-0. The
game is decided in a second round of penalty strokes which Bentley
wins, 2-1.
July 29, 1997- F. Paul Bogan passes away from
sudden illness at the age of 62.
August 7, 1997 – Bob Burke, Director of
Athletics at American International, is named interim commissioner
until a permanent successor is found.
January 1997 – Pace University of
Pleasantville, NY resigns from the NYCAC and is accepted into the
NE-10 for the 1997-98 academic year, bringing the conference member
total to 11.
July 1998 - David R. Brunk is selected as the
fourth commissioner in the history of the Northeast-10. Brunk
assumes duties October 12, 1998.
December 1, 1998 - Julie Smalley is named the
first full-time Director of Media Relations. Smalley replaces Dick
Lipe, SID at Bentley College, who had served since the
conference’s first year of publicity in 1980-81.
March 25, 1999 - Women’s Lacrosse debuts
with Bentley downing AIC 13-8 and Saint Michael’s topping
Assumption 16-7.
May 2, 1999 - Visiting Saint Michael’s
topples Stonehill 10-9 in the first NE-10 women’s lacrosse
championship game.
September 22, 1999 – The NE-10 announces it
will expand by five institutions beginning with the 2000-01
academic year. Four institutions are accepted from the now defunct
NECC – Franklin Pierce College, New Hampshire College, the
University of Massachusetts Lowell and Southern Connecticut State
University. The College of Saint Rose, from the NYCAC, is also
accepted. The expansion makes the NE-10 the second largest Division
II conference in the nation.
November 5, 1999 - The NE-10 goes on-line at
www.northeast10.org.
September 21, 2000 - The NE-10 announces it will
add another four championship sports to its offerings with the
additions of men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track
and field for the 2001-2002 academic year. The additions bring the
total number of NE-10 championships to 19.
October 18, 2000 - Stonehill College is named the
inaugural recipient of the Northeast-10 Academic Achievement
Award.
January 2001 - The Northeast-10 Conference
announces it will absorb the Eastern Football Conference beginning
with the 2001 season to create its 20th sport.
August 31, 2001 – The First NE-10 football game
takes place as host Bentley edges Saint Anselm, 27-24.
September 28, 2001 – Tom Folliard passes
away at 61 in his hometown of Washington, D.C.
November 17, 2001 – LIU/C.W. Post wins the
first NE-10 football championship game over Bentley, 43-6.
November 4, 2001 – Bentley College becomes
the second conference school to win a national title. The Falcons
topple East Stroudsburg 4-2 in the NCAA Division II field hockey
championship game.
February 16, 2002 - UMass Lowell’s men’s and
women’s track & field teams sweep the inaugural indoor
championships held at Southern Connecticut.
May 5, 2002 - Southern Connecticut sweeps the
men’s and women’s inaugural outdoor track & field
championships held at Bryant College.
May 25, 2002 - Southern Connecticut’s
Kateema Riettie wins the individual national championship in
javelin at the NCAA Track & Field Championships.
August 7, 2002 - The Northeast-10 Dick Lipe Media Award is
established and announced at the conference’s first football
media day in Waltham, Mass.
May 11, 2003 - Stonehill College becomes the third
national champion under the NE-10 banner, winning the Women’s
Lacrosse National Championship, 9-8 over Longwood (Va.).
June 3, 2003 - The NE-10 announces it will sponsor
men’s women’s swimming and diving as its 21st and 22nd
championship sports for the 2003-2004 season. The two sports will
initially have six members.
June 9, 2003 - The NE-10 announces it will sponsor
men’s ice hockey as its 23rd championship sport beginning in
2003-2004. The sport gives the conference 23 championships, the
most of any NCAA Division II conference in the nation. The sport
includes six sponsoring schools.
November 12, 2003 - The first men’s ice
hockey game takes place under the NE-10 banner as Southern New
Hampshire downs Franklin Pierce, 6-2.
December 6, 2003 - Southern Connecticut wins both the
men’s and women’s inaugural Northeast-10 swimming and
diving championships held at the Southern Connecticut
natatorium.
March 6, 2004 - Saint Michael’s edges Saint Anselm
5-4 in the inaugural NE-10 men’s ice hockey championship
game.
May 30, 2004 - Le Moyne wins the men’s
lacrosse national championship, 11-10 in overtime over Limestone.
It is the first men’s national championship for the NE-10 and
fourth team title overall.
March 26, 2005 - Bryant men’s basketball
team becomes the first conference school to appear in the Elite
Eight game, falling to Virginia Union, 63-58.
May 15, 2005 - Stonehill wins its second national
championship in women’s lacrosse, topping West Chester,
16-10.
October 22, 2005 - Bentley Volleyball Coach Sandy
Hoffman wins victory #600 with a three-game sweep of Saint
Rose.
November 13, 2005 - UMass Lowell claims the national
championship in field hockey with a 2-1 win over Bloomsburg.
January 5, 2006 - Bentley Women's Basketball Coach
Barbara Stevens claims 700th career victory with a 85-69 win over
Bryant.
May 2, 2006 - Le Moyne wins its second national
championship in men's lacrosse, defeating Dowling 12-5.
June 5, 2006 - The NE-10 celebrates it's 25th Anniversary
and announces it's inaugural Hall of Fame class at the Harvard Club
in Boston. The inaugural class includes 25 inductees.
March 15, 2007 - Saint Rose's Brandon Birchak won
the National Championship in the three-meter diving event becoming
the first student-athlete in school history to capture a National
Championship.
March 24, 2007 - Southern Connecticut wins its
first NCAA Championship in women's basketball, defeating Florida
Gulf Coast 61-45.
May 25, 2007 - UMass Lowell's Nicole Plante won
the National Championship in the 10,000-meters with a time of
35:23.49.
May 27, 2007 - Le Moyne College wins its second
straight NCAA Championship, and third in four years in Men's
Lacrosse, defeating Mercyhurst 6-5.
June 4, 2007 - The Northeast-10 inducts 16 new
members and the 1994 Merrimack Softball team into the Hall of Fame
at the second annual Hall of Fame Induction and Award Ceremony at
the Colonnade Hotel in Boston, Mass.
October 19, 2007 - Bryant University, a charter
member of the Northeast-10, announces it will leave the conference
at the conclusion of the 2007-2008 academic year to begin it's
journey to Division I as part of the Northeast Conference.
November 13, 2007 - Dr. George Hagerty, Chair of
the Northeast-10 Council of President’s, announced that the
University of New Haven accepted an offer to join the Northeast-10
Conference as a full-time member beginning the 2008-2009 academic
year. New Haven will compete as a member of the Northeast-10 in all
the sports it currently sponsors, except men's volleyball,
beginning in the fall of 2008. The Chargers currently field 17
varsity athletic teams. Football will become its 18th sport when it
begins play in 2009.
December 2, 2007 - Franklin Pierce University
Claims the 2007 Men's Soccer National Championship with a 1-0
victory over Lincoln Memorial University. This marks the first ever
men's soccer National Championship in Northeast-10 history.
December 17, 2007 - Dr. George Hagerty, Chair of
the Northeast-10 Council of President’s, announced that
Adelphi University accepted an offer to join the Northeast-10
Conference as a full-time member beginning the 2009-2010 academic
year. Adelphi will compete as a member of the Northeast-10 in all
sports it currently sponsors, except women’s bowling and
men's soccer, beginning in the fall of 2009. The Panthers currently
field 20 varsity athletic teams.
March 15, 2008 - Le Moyne's Alison Lesher and Southern
Connecticut's Kristen Frost become the Northeast-10's first
student-athletes to capture individual National Championships in
the sport of swimming. Lesher captured the National Championship in
the 200-yard butterfly event, while Frost claimed four National
Championships in the 1650, 1000, 500 and 200-yard freestyle
events.
March 26, 2008 - Franklin Pierce's Johannah Leedham was
named the State Farm Division II Women’s Player of the Year.
Leedham is the first women’s basketball player from the
Northeast-10 Conference to win the award. She joins former
University of Massachusetts Lowell standout Elad Inbar as
basketball players of the year in either men’s or
women’s basketball from the NE-10.
May 1, 2008 - Julie Ruppert is named the fifth full time
commissioner in the history of the Northeast-10 Conference. Ruppert
assumes duties June 1, 2008.



























