NE-10 Champion Skyhawks will face fifth-seeded American International on Friday
Stonehill (15-5-1, 8-5-1 NE-10), which earned the Northeast-10 Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, will face fifth-seeded American International College (11-7-1, 9-5-0 NE-10) in a first round match on Friday, hosted by East Region top-seed University on Bridgeport (16-3-0, 8-0-0 ECC) at Knights Field at 1 p.m. The winner of Friday's first round matchup will advance to Sunday's second round to face the host Purple Knights, the East Coast Conference's regular season and tournament champions and a national semifinalist in 2015, at noon.
Stonehill will make its first NCAA Tournament appearance this week after winning its third Northeast-10 Tournament in program history – its first since 1995 – with a 2-1 triumph over Pace University on Sunday at Skyhawk Field. The Skyhawks opened its historic season with a 10-0-1 record, vaulting all the way to No. 4 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA) Division II poll, matching its highest national ranking in program history established in 1999 when it went unbeaten through its first 13 matches.
Head coach Alex Wilson has led the charge of the Skyhawks for four seasons as she has improved from a 4-10-4 overall record last season to a 15-5-1 overall mark in just a year. Along with seeing a drastic improvement in the program, the '08 alum was named the 2016 NE-10 Coach of the Year award.
The Skyhawks have a very balanced team with its 10 seniors and eight freshman leading the way. Senior goalkeeper Jamie Block (Georgetown, Mass./Georgetown) has held the defensive end of the season down as she has recorded 10 shutouts, which has been the most in her career and third most in a season by a Skyhawk. Block was also most recently named NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Week and tabbed on the All-Conference first team for the first time in her career. Classmate Lauren Kapatoes (Hopedale, Mass./Hopedale) has been a dominant force on offense as she leads the way with eight goals, including the two in the NE-10 Championship against Pace. Kapatoes was named the NE-10 Championship Tournament MVP, as she garnered second team All-Conference.
Brianna Duserick (Canton, Mass./Canton) has been part of the backline that assisted Block in the 10 shutouts, as she was tabbed for the All-Conference first team and NE-10 Championship All-Tournament team. Claire O'Brien (West Hartford, Conn./Hall) followed Kapatoes in the All-Conference second team honor for her defensive and offensive skills as she registered her third goal of her career and second game winner against Merrimack College this season. Sophomore Courtney Campo (Quincy, Mass./Quincy) has played a tremendous midfield as she has been involved in everything up and down the field as she tallied her first-career goal against The College of Saint Rose in the quarterfinal matchup. Freshman Nicole Geraghty (Bridgwater, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham) recorded her first NE-10 accolade with an All-Rookie placement, as she demonstrated why she deserved the award with the lone goal and game winner against Adelphi University in the semifinal matchup.
The NCAA East Regional's second bracket will be hosted by second-seeded Adelphi University (15-3-1, 11-2-1 NE-10), the Northeast-10's regular season champions. The Panthers earned the region's second first-round bye and await the winner of Friday's first round matchup between third-seeded LIU Post (14-3-2, 6-1-1), of the ECC, and sixth-seeded Caldwell University (12-7-2, 9-3-0 CACC) being played in Garden City, New York, at 1 p.m. Sunday's second round match against Adelphi will be at 1 p.m.
The remaining two teams from this weekend's regional brackets will square off the weekend of November 18-20 for the regional final, which will be hosted by the highest remaining seed from the Atlantic Regional. The East and Atlantic Region champions will meet for a national quarterfinal match that weekend for the right to advance to the NCAA Division II Championships, in Kansas City, Missouri, December 1-3.
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2016 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer
East Regional
Friday, November 11
#5 American International (11-7-1) vs. #4 Stonehill (15-5-1), 1 p.m.
hosted by University of Bridgeport
hosted by Adelphi University
Sunday, November 13
AIC/Stonehill winner at #1 Bridgeport (16-3-0), Noon
Caldwell/LIU Post winner at #2 Adelphi (15-3-1), 1 p.m.
Two Sunday Winner, November 17 or 18, at highest remaining Atlantic Region seed
