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LOWELL, MA – The UMass Lowell field hockey team, fresh off its fourth straight Northeast-10 Tournament championship (third outright) Sunday, was named the No. 1 seed in the North bracket as the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Tournament pairings were announced Monday afternoon.

Buoyed by the NE-10 title, the River Hawks (18-4) snared the top seed by defeating No. 3 Bentley, 1-0 in overtime, in the semifinal Saturday and the No. 2 Skyhawks, 3-1, in the championship match Sunday in Easton, MA.

Bentley (15-5) will visit Stonehill (17-4) Saturday in the first round at 12:00. The winner will face UML Thursday, Nov. 16 at 1:00 in the tournament semifinal at the Division II Sports festival in Pensacola, FL.

Bloomsburg (22-0), the No. 1 seed in the South bracket, will meet the winner between No. 2 Shippensburg (16-5) and No. 3 Indiana University of Pennsylvania (14-5) Nov. 16 at 4:00. IUP visits Shippensburg Saturday at 12:00.

“I really thought we had the chance to be the No. 1 seed after this weekend,” said UML head coach Shannon Hlebichuk, recently named the NE-10 Coach of the Year. “After we lost to Bryant (on Oct. 14), I told our players that we needed to win out the remainder of our season to have a chance at getting the No. 1 seed, and they accomplished that.”

The defending NCAA Division II champion, UML has been victorious in 13 of their last 14 matches, including eight straight. The River Hawks advance to the NCAA Tournament semifinal for the fourth straight year.

“This senior class will play in its fourth final four,” Hlebichuk noted. “That is unbelievable. I knew it would take a little time for this team to develop. Each year we talk about when we want to peak. We set our goals early and we never lose sight of them over the year.”

Including last year’s national championship, UML has advanced to the NCAA title match twice in the last three years. In 2003, the River Hawks defeated Bryant 1-0 in the semifinal before falling to 11-time champion Bloomsburg, 4-1. The River Hawks suffered a 3-0 loss to Bentley in the 2004 semifinal.