Division II College Games: 2024 Conference Tournaments

HOST: HIGHER SEED | NOV 4, 7 & 10

The 2024 Northeast 10 (NE10) Conference Tournament is set to begin November 4, with eight teams facing off in the quarterfinals. The stage is only slightly different to last year's competition, with New Haven and American International taking the No. 7 and No. 8 spots over Mercy and Franklin Pierce and Assumption staying the top seed. Southern New Hampshire has established themselves as a top contender in Division II, and claimed the No. 2 seed this time around after being the in the No. 5 spot last season.

Kicking off play at 4 p.m. ET is No. 6 Pace at No. 3 Saint Anselm. The No. 10 nationally ranked Saint Anselm Hawks come into this contest after finishing off the regular season with a tough 1-0 loss to No 6 in the nation Assumption. Meanwhile, the Pace Setters enter their quarterfinal game hoping to upset the Hawks after falling in a hard fought match, 3-2, back in September. It's the senior season for Pace's Krista Dietz, who leads Division II in assists per game (1) and is second in goals per game (1.56).

In 2023, the Hawks defeated Assumption, 2-1, to win the NE10 title, but were defeated by the Greyhounds by that same score in the First Round of the NCAA postseason. The Setters fell to Assumption, 3-2, in the NE10 semifinal, but recieved a bid to the NCAA tournament, where they fell 2-1 to Kutztown in the First Round.

At 6 p.m. ET, No. 7 New Haven will take on No. 2 Southern New Hampshire, and No. 5 Bentley will play at No. 4 Adelphi. Southern New Hampshire is enjoying a successful season, losing only to nationally ranked opponents Kutztown and Assumption and having some of the best defense and offense in the nation. Senior Annemartine Christis is having a breakout season, scoring 27 goals so far after tallying just single digits each of her first three seasons. Christis leads Division II in points per game (3.63) while junior goalkeeper Emma Peeters ranks second in save percentage (0.862). New Haven looks to redeem themselves from their 6-1 loss against the Penmen earlier this season, and is coming off of a three-game win streak with critical goals coming from NE10 Player of the Week Abby Nixon.

Adelphi shutout Bentley, 4-0, in their regular season match, but Bentley has been playing at a high level this season. The Falcons defeated nationally ranked No. 6 Assumpion, 2-1, back in September, and lost to No. 2 East Stroudsburg by just a single goal. Adelphi comes off of a strong 5-0 win over Saint Michael’s, a team that Bentley defeated 5-1 earlier this fall.

No. 8 Franklin Pierce will face off against No. 1 Assumption at 7 p.m. ET on Monday. Reigning NE10 champion Assumption looks to remain undefeated against NE10 opponents and secure a spot in the conference final. The Greyhounds last played Franklin Pierce in mid-October, winning 1-0 with a second quarter goal from Daisy Stone. Franklin Pierce played a hard fought game, as the defense and goalkeeper Zoe Noorlag -- who tallied 16 saves -- held the Assumption attack to just a single goal.

The four winners will advance to the NE10 semifinals on Thursday, November 7, with the championship match following shortly on Sunday, November 10.

HOST: HIGHER SEED | NOV 4, 8 & 10

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) begins their conference tournament alongside the rest of Division II on Monday, November 4. This year, all six teams participating are ranked nationally, almost in tandem with their PSAC seeding. Expect this confrence tournament compettion to be fierce, as included are the top four teams in the division: No. 1 Shippensburg, No. 2 East Stroudsburg, No. 3 Kutztown, and No. 4 Bloomburg. West Chester comes in ranked No. 7 while Mansfield sits at No. 9.

East Stroudsburg looks to defend their championship title from last season, and have set themselves up nicely by securing the No. 2 seed. The No. 1 seed is 2023 PSAC runner-up Shippensburg, whose nearly perfect regular season record and 16-win streak was shattered by IUP last Wednesday After losing 2-1 to ESU in last year's PSAC title game, expect to see Shippensburg fighting to come out on top this year. The two teams will have a bye straight into the semifinals on Friday, November 8.

No. 3 Kutztown looks to take down No. 6 Mansfield on Monday afternoon. In a surprising upset, Mansfield won the regular season matchup, 2-1, with Jenna Duke tallying a goal and an assist in the victory. Kutztown has won three of their last four matches since the loss, as the 2023 national champion Golden Bears look to pick up steam heading into the PSAC tournament. Mansfield comes into the game off of three tough losses to strong opponents, and will be hoping to find their rhythm again in Monday’s game.

No. 4 Bloomsburg (14-4, 6-3) faces off against No. 5 West Chester (12-6, 5-4) Monday at 4:00 p.m ET. West Chester, who is back in the postseason after just missing out last year, was the first team to topple Bloomsburg this year. Since then, Bloomsburg has only lost to other top-ranked teams -- Shippensburg, Kutztown, and in OT to East Stroudsburg. When the Huskies rematched the Golden Rams on October 1, they flipped the script and took a 1-0 victory. Bloomsburg comes into this game off of three huge victories, while West Chester comes in after a 5-1 win over Frostburg State.

All six of these teams are very strong and skilled, and while the favorites are East Stroudsburg and Shippensburg, all of these teams are potential contenders to find themselves playing on November 10.

HOST: HIGHER SEED/NEWBERRY | NOV 4, 8 & 10

Six teams have found themselves seeded for the South Atlantic Conference (SAC), which is set to begin Monday, November 4. No. 1 Newberry and No. 2 Limestone both received a bye until Friday, when they will play the winners of the two quarterfinal games.

No. 3 Wingate plays No. 6 Converse on Monday. A program that began competition just two years ago in 2022, the top-three seeded Bulldogs are making history with their first conference tournament appearance after their best regular season finish yet. Head coach Kat Lind has brought her team's record from 2-15 in 2022, to 4-13 in 2023, to 12-5 so far this fall. Lind did similar work at her previous role of head coach at Coker, where she started the program in 2018 and led the Cobras to a conference championship three years later in 2021. The Bulldogs wrapped up their regular season by defeating Coker by a scoreline of 7-0. Senior Rylie Cordrey, a Cobra transfer, leads Wingate in goals (11), while freshman goalkeeper Audra Szymborski leads the SAC in save percentage (.835).

Converse is back in the No. 6 spot for the second year, previously finishing with back-to-back SAC championship trophies in 2022 and 2021. The Valkyries had several very narrow conference losses this season, including a stretch of four consecutive one-goal losses. During that period, Converse suffered a 2-1 overtime loss to Wingate, with Cordrey tallying twice.

In another game that could end up in the hands of either team, No. 4 Lander faces off against No. 5 Mount Olive. Two weeks ago, Lander came away with a 1-0 win in double overtime against Mount Olive, but in their regular season finale this past weekend, it was the Trojans who took a 2-0 victory. Annefleur Moerkerken, who leads the SAC in assists (9), netted both goals. Lander, who was the No. 4 seed last fall as well, finished as the dark horse champions of the 2023 SAC Tournament, while Mount Olive was knocked out by the Bearcats, 1-0, in the the semifinal match.

Both No. 1 Newberry and No. 2 Limestone have had solid performances this season and could be contenders for the championship game on Sunday, November 10. Newberry is currently the only SAC team to be ranked nationally, coming in at number eight after only falling three times this season and defeating No. 9 Mansfield back in September. When faced with their own PSAC opponents, Limestone fell to No. 7 West Chester, 4-0, and 1-0 to Millersville. The two teams both had a run in the SAC Tournament last fall, with Limestone pushing out Newberry with a 1-0 win in the semifinals, only to fall to Lander in the final.