Men's Soccer

NE10 Sends Two Men's Soccer Clubs to NCAA Championship

SNHU and Franklin Pierce Earn Big Dance Bids, Penmen to Host

FULL BRACKET

NORTH ATTLEBORO, Mass. - For the second consecutive season both Southern New Hampshire and Franklin Pierce will represent the Northeast 10 in the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship.  The teams were announced in the bracket Monday night.

SNHU - the NE10 preseason favorite, regular season champion and postseason champion - earned a home game in the first round against St. Thomas Aquinas out of the ECC.  This will be the second meeting of the squads this season, with SNHU sweeping to a 3-0 win in August in New York.  The Penmen are 6-0 all-time vs STAC, outscoring the Spartans 26-4 in meetings that date to 2008.

Franklin Pierce heads on the road in the opening round, set to take on Mercy in an eight vs. nine matchup.  The game will be played at Charleston (WV), with the winner meeting the Golden Eagles in a second game should they advance.  FPU last met Mercy in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. in 2019, falling, 2-1. The Ravens have played Charleston this season, meeting on neutral ground and conceding in the 88th minute for a 1-0 loss.

Both NE10 teams have incredible recent NCAA success.  SNHU advanced all the way to the Final Four last year before running into eventual champion Midwestern State.  Franklin Pierce, of course, is the league's most recent men's soccer national champion, winning the whole thing in both 2022 and 2023.  

For the first time this fall, NCAA DII championship fields were decided entirely by computer, relying on the new NPI format and formula.  Based on those numbers, NE10 runner up American International was the first team out of Super Region 1, ranking 10th.  Ten team made the field from the region, but the CACC champion finished below AIC and snared a bid through the league's automatic qualifier.

The FPU-Mercy matchup is slated for 3pm on Friday with the winner meeting Charleston at 3pm Sunday.  The SNHU-STAC meeting is a 3pm Sunday start.  All games are broadcast free of charge on the NCAA Championship Pass.
 
ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 10 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.

Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
 
Fans can subscribe via this link to follow NE10 NOW on FloSports this season.  The partnership between the NE10 and FloSports works to provide funds back to the athletic departments of the Northeast 10 Conference in support of student-athletes while promoting the league on a national platform.