For Immediate Release
October 24, 2011
South Easton, Mass. – The top-seeded Merrimack College Warriors will be looking to accomplish something no team in the school's history has ever accomplished when the 2011 Northeast-10 Field Hockey Championship gets underway this Wednesday, October 26th with two quarterfinal games and culminates on Sunday, October 30th with the championship final.
The Northeast-10 will be broadcasting the championship final live at northeast10.org and northeast10.tv Sunday at 12 p.m. The Conference will also be providing live updates of all conference championship games on their Twitter feed (@TheNortheast10).
Merrimack has never won the NE-10 Championship in field hockey, but finished the regular season with a perfect 10-0 mark in conference play. The Warriors, by virtue of their number one seed will host the semifinals and championship game this Friday and Sunday, respectively.
After dropping their first game of the season to Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Merrimack has run off a string of 16 consecutive wins. Over that stretch, they have only allowed ten total goals and have outscored their opposition 56-14 this season.
The University of Massachusetts Lowell earned the number two seed, and also earned a bye into the semifinal round on Friday evening. The River Hawks lost a number of key contributors from last year's title-winning team, but still managed to finish the season with a 15-3 mark, including 9-1 in NE-10 play. Their only conference loss coming in a tight 2-1 setback to the top-seeded Warriors.
UMass Lowell will be looking to defend their conference crown, as they defeated Stonehill College in the championship game last year.
Upstart Franklin Pierce University will be the third seed in the championship and will host sixth-seeded Stonehill in a quarterfinal matchup Friday evening. The Ravens were picked to finish eighth in the coaches' preseason poll, but have surpassed expectations, going 7-3 in NE-10 play en route to earning the three seed.
Franklin Pierce is playing their best at the right time of year as they've won five in a row heading into the championship.
Bentley University (9-8, 6-4 NE-10) is the fourth seed and will host the other quarterfinal game Wednesday evening. The Falcons have had an up and down 2011, but will be looking to upset the apple cart when the field hockey championships get underway. Bentley has won five of their last seven, and if history is any indication, the Falcons have a big shot once again this year. They have won nine NE-10 field hockey conference championships, three more then any other program in the league.
American International College (11-7, 6-4 NE-10) is the five seed and will travel to Waltham for a first-round game. The Falcons defeated the Yellow Jackets earlier this month 3-2 in overtime as Bentley's Gina Lirange tallied the game winner for Bentley.
Stonehill rounds out the championship field as the sixth seed. The Skyhawks (9-9, 4-6 NE-10) advanced to the championship game a year ago, and will be looking to make another run this year. Stonehill has struggled on the road this year, however, going just 3-7 away from South Easton, Mass.
For the complete 2011 Northeast-10 Field Hockey Championship Schedule, see below.
The Northeast-10 is an association of 16 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 5,500 student-athletes. Each year, 4,000 of those student-athletes compete in Conference championships in 23 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
2011 Northeast-10 Field Hockey Championships
Wednesday,
October 26th
Quarterfinals
#6 Stonehill at #3 Franklin Pierce 6 p.m.
#5 American Int'l at #4 Bentley 7 p.m.
Friday,
October 28th
Semifinals
#2 UMass Lowell vs. Winner of Franklin Pierce / Stonehill 4
p.m.
#1 Merrimack vs. Winner of Bentley / American Int'l 7 p.m.
Sunday,
October 30th
Championship
Winner of Two Semifinal Games 12 p.m.
-NE-10-
