Stonehill head coach Robert Talley takes charge of his seventh season with the Skyhawks in 2013. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr)

Skyhawks’ 26^th season opens Sept. 7 at #17 Bloomsburg

EASTON, Mass. (May 17, 2013) – Stonehill College has announced its 2013 football schedule, which features five home and five road games with no bye week, plus the second annual Northeast-10 Conference Championship weekend.

Stonehill’s ten game schedule opens on Saturday, September 7, when it visits Bloomsburg (Pa.) University, ranked 17^th in the final 2012 American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll, from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) for the second of a two-year home and home series between the two programs. Bloomsburg posted a 44-28 victory over the Skyhawks at W.B. Mason Stadium to start the 2012 season as the Huskies went on to earn an NCAA Tournament bid.

Stonehill kicks off both its Northeast-10 Conference and home schedule the following Saturday night, September 13, as it hosts Saint Anselm College for the 8^th Annual “Battle for the Ol’ Bronze Hawk” at 6 p.m. The Skyhawks have won the “Ol’ Bronze Hawk” all seven years of the trophy game and are winners of eight straight in the all-time series overall after last year’s 35-20 triumph in Manchester, N.H.

Stonehill is back on the road in week three to face Assumption College for an NE-10 matchup on Friday, September 20, at 7 p.m., before returning to W.B. Mason Stadium for back to back home games to close out September and open October. Rival Bentley University comes to Easton as part of Family Weekend at Stonehill on Saturday, September 28, with kickoff at 6 p.m. That marks the final night game for the Skyhawks as they host NE-10 runners-up American International College on Saturday, October 5, at 1 p.m. Stonehill posted a 26-24 victory over Assumption last fall, and dropped a 17-7 decision at Bentley and 28-17 setback at American International.

Stonehill will get to know the City of New Haven, Conn., quite well over the next two weeks with back to back road games at Southern Connecticut State University on October 12 (1 p.m.), and defending NE-10 Champions University of New Haven, an NCAA Tournament participant, on October 19 (1 p.m.). Stonehill posted its first win in program history over Southern Connecticut State with a 13-0 decision in the regular season meeting last fall, before the Owls claimed a 13-10 triumph on NE-10 Championship weekend. New Haven rallied for a 45-41 decision over Stonehill in a game televised nationally on CBS Sports Network that was later named “Game of the Year” by d2football.com.

Stonehill returns home to welcome LIU Post back to the NE-10 after a five year hiatus on Saturday, October 26, at noon. The Skyhawks only win in the series history with the Pioneers came the last time they met in 2007 with a 12-7 victory. Stonehill closes out its home schedule the following week when it hosts Pace University for Senior Day on November 2 at noon. The Skyhawks claimed a 43-7 victory over the Setters in Pleasantville, N.Y., last season.

Stonehill closes out the regular season on the road with a matchup at Merrimack College on Saturday, November 9, at 1 p.m. The Skyhawks registered a 22-20 win over the Warriors in 2012. The second annual NE-10 Championship Weekend will be conducted on Saturday, November 16. In addition to the top two teams in the Conference battling for the NE-10 title, games will be played between the No. 3 and 4 seeds and then the No. 5 team will host the No. 10 seed, No. 6 will host No. 9 and No. 7 will host No. 8.

Stonehill finished its 2012 season with a 5-5 record overall, including a 5-3 clip in the Northeast-10 to mark the Skyhawks first winning season in Conference play since head coach Robert Talley’s first season in 2007. Stonehill was named the Northeast-10 “Team of the Year” by d2football.com, while Talley received the website’s Conference Coach of the Year and the Skyhawks’ nationally-televised matchup with No. 3 University of New Haven was labeled as blog’s NE-10 Game of the Year.

For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter and Facebook. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks mobile app on iTunes and the Android Market.