South Easton, Mass. – Franklin Pierce College, last year’s regular season champion and tournament runner-up, has received the top seed for the upcoming Northeast-10 Conference Championship Tournament, presented by Select Sport America.
The Ravens fell to Le Moyne College in a 1-0 shutout in the 2005 Northeast-10 Championship game. Now claiming their second regular season championship, the Ravens finished the 2006 season with a 15-1-1 overall record and a 11-1-1 record in league play.
The Quarterfinal round begins Tuesday, October 24. In quarterfinal action, the #1 seed Franklin Pierce will host the #8 seed Saint Anselm College (7-9-1, 6-6-1 NE-10) at 7 p.m., #2 seed Southern Connecticut State University (13-2-2, 10-2-1 NE-10) hosts #7 seed Le Moyne (8-7-3, 6-5-2 NE-10) at 4 p.m., #3 Saint Michael’s College (11-4-3, 7-4-2 NE-10) hosts #6 The University of Massachusetts Lowell (7-4-5, 5-3-5 NE-10) at 2 p.m., and #4 Southern New Hampshire University (8-6-4, 6-3-4 NE-10) hosts #5 Merrimack College (12-6-0, 7-6-0 NE-10) at 7 p.m.
The semifinal round will take place Friday, October 27 at the higher remaining seeds while the highest remaining seed will host the championship game Sunday, October 29.
NOTES: Franklin Pierce clinched its second-straight Northeast-10 Conference regular season championship. The Ravens are 4-5 in post season play and have been the tournament runner-up the last two years. Southern Connecticut has claimed five regular season titles (2000-2004) since joining the league in 2000. In 2005, The Owls lost in the quarterfinals to UMass Lowell. Saint Michael’s earned its first trip to the playoffs in school history. Southern New Hampshire has claimed two NE-10 Tournament titles (2000, 2001) since joining the league in 2000. The Penmen own a 6-3 record in the post season in just five appearances. Merrimack joins the tournament field for the fourteenth year overall and has won the title three times. The last time the Warriors were crowned tournament champs was in 1997, when they ended a three-year run claiming tournament titles in 1995 and 1996 as well. UMass Lowell has advanced to the NE-10 Tournament semifinal five straight years, including league tournament titles in 2003 and 2004. In 2005, the River Hawks lost to Franklin Pierce in the semifinals. Le Moyne, last year’s tournament champion, enters its eighth post season this year. In addition to winning the tournament title in 2005, the Dolphins have advanced to the final in 1998 when Saint Anselm beat them 5-0. Saint Anselm has a league best 18 years of experience in the post season tournament. The Hawks have claimed six titles (’84,’85,’86, ’98, ’99), the most of any Northeast-10 team, and return to the league tournament for the first time since 2003 when they lost to UMass Lowell in the semifinals.
