Ravens return to postseason for first time since 2003, face SNHU Tuesday

RINDGE, N.H. (April 25, 2009) - Franklin Pierce University will make its first postseason appearance since 2003 after surviving the Northeast-10 Conference's tiebreaker procedure and earning the sixth and final spot in next week's NE-10 Women's Lacrosse Championships.

Sixth-seeded Franklin Pierce (7-8, 4-6 NE-10) will square off against third seeded Southern New Hampshire University (11-4, 8-2 NE-10) in first round action of the NE-10 Tournament on Tuesday at Larkin Field in Manchester. Game time has yet to be announced. The remaining four teams in the tournament are top-seeded and regular season co-champions University of New Haven (14-3, 9-1 NE-10), who will serve as hosts of the semifinals and final rounds next Saturday and Sunday in West Haven, Conn., second-seeded and regular season co-champions Stonehill College (10-5, 9-1 NE-10), who also received a first round bye, fourth seeded Merrimack College (7-7, 7-3 NE-10) and fifth seeded Bentley University (9-8, 7-3 NE-10). Merrimack will host Bentley in Tuesday's other first round matchup.

The winner of Tuesday's Franklin Pierce/Southern New Hampshire battle will advance to the NE-10 final four next Saturday in West Haven, Conn., and take on second-seeded Stonehill. The Merrimack/Bentley winner will face top-seeded and host New Haven.

Franklin Pierce finished in a three-way tie for sixth place in the NE-10 standings with Saint Anselm College (5-9, 4-6 NE-10) and Saint Michael's College (4-10, 4-6 NE-10). All three teams were 1-1 against the other two teams and each of the programs posted identical results against the other eight teams in the Conference, forcing the final tiebreaker in the NE-10 system to be implemented - a draw of the three teams. Franklin Pierce's name was selected this afternoon after Saint Michael's 19-10 win over American International College forced the three-way tie and the Ravens will make just their second postseason appearance in program history on Tuesday.

Franklin Pierce is enjoying its best season in program history, breaking the program record for wins in a season and matching its program record for Conference wins. The Ravens posted their first four-game winning streak in program history and enter the postseason winners of four of their last five.

In the regular season meeting between Franklin Pierce and Southern New Hampshire, the Penmen survived with a 17-16 overtime victory at Sodexo Field in Rindge back on April 7.