BENNINGTON, Vt. — The New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) announced on Saturday its bracket seeding for the 2016 women's lacrosse postseason tournament to take place this upcoming week with Southern Vermont College claiming the No. 3 seed in this year's playoffs.
The Mountaineers' second straight tournament appearance in as many years of the program's existence sees SVC earn the right to host a postseason match for the first time in history. Southern Vermont will take on sixth-seeded Elms College on Tuesday at Everett Field, first draw scheduled for 5 p.m.
SVC got back into the playoffs with a 5-2 record in league action (5-10 overall), breaking its wins mark from a year ago.
"It's very exciting for our second-year program to be back in the playoffs, and more so with a record of five wins and two losses compared to where we were last year," commented SVC head coach Thomas L. Otero. "This is such an exciting time for our team and our players who have progressed from a brand new program to the potential of a successful playoff team in just two seasons. The opportunity to play on our home field with our home fans watching will be a big emotional lift for our players. We want to represent SVC proudly and create an experience that will be remembered in the future.
Southern Vermont notched its new victory record with a big 20-18 Saturday win over Elms, scoring the most goals in team history. EC finished the regular season at 3-4 in NECC action and 7-9 overall. Tuesday will be a rematch of last season's 2015 first-round playoff game that saw the Blazers win 21-5 over SVC to make it into the semifinals for the third straight year.
"We truly believe that we can compete with Elms and with Becker [College] again," Otero continued. "Then, if we come to meet Regis [College] in the finals, we believe that we can play our best possible game and make a contest out of it. However, the cliché is: 'One game at a time;' and that's how we are approaching this playoff season."
"Playing a team twice in one season is very tough; playing a team twice in four days is really tough," the SVC head coach said of his Tuesday matchup. "We've each felt each other's team out and know their strengths and weaknesses. It will be the team that is able to adjust more successfully which will win the next meeting."
Three-time defending NECC champion Regis College took a first-round bye and the top seed with another undefeated league record (7-0 NECC, 10-6 overall), now having won its last 24 straight regular season Conference matches. The Pride will host the winner of No. 5 Mitchell College (3-4 NECC, 5-6 overall) against fourth-seeded Wheelock College (4-3, 9-7 overall) on Thursday in a 4 p.m. semifinal matchup.
Becker College secured the No. 2 seed and the other first-round bye, earning the right to host the second semifinal game on Thursday with a 5-2 league mark (8-9 overall). BC took the head-to-head tiebreaker over SVC as the Hawks defeated Southern Vermont 15-9 back on March 30. Becker will play the winner of the Mountaineers against Elms at a time to be determined.
Mitchell took the tiebreaker over EC with a tight 15-14 victory against the Blazers on April 2.
Thursday's two winners will advance to play in the Conference championship game on Saturday, April 30 at the highest remaining seed, the victor of that game earning the right to then play in the NCAA Division III tournament.
First Round – Tuesday, April 26
Game 1: #6 Elms @ #3 Southern Vermont College – 5:00 p.m.
Game 2: #5 Mitchell @ #4 Wheelock – TBA
Semifinals – Thursday, April 28
Game 4: Game 2 winner @ #1 Regis – 4:00PM
Game 5: Game 1 winner @ #2 Becker – TBA
Championship – Saturday, April 30
Game 5: Semifinal winners (@ highest remaining seed) – TBA