LORETTO, Pa. (Oct. 31, 2006) – The Saint Francis men’s soccer team is playing its best soccer of the year at the right time as the Red Flash wrapped up the regular season with an 8-1-3 mark in its final 12 matches to secure the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Northeast Conference Tournament, which will be held this Friday and Sunday at No. 1 Monmouth.
Saint Francis, which finished 6-1-2 in the conference, will play No. 2 seed Fairleigh Dickinson at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. The Knights handed the Red Flash their only conference blemish 1-0 in overtime on Oct. 21. No. 1 Monmouth will play host to No. 4 Robert Morris at 11 a.m. on Friday in the other semifinal game. The winners of the two matches will face off for the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, beginning at Noon on Sunday.
Saint Francis has earned the respect of teams within its region, earning a No. 6 ranking in this week’s NSCAA/adidas North Atlantic Region poll. The Hawks are ranked first in the region, and 16th in the nation, while Fairleigh Dickinson is third in the region, and Robert Morris is fifth.
This will be Saint Francis’ second trip to the Northeast Conference Tournament in the past three years. Head coach B.J. Craig has led the Red Flash to three straight overall winning season – the only winning seasons in program history. |