WALTHAM, Mass. – Making their record 19th appearance in the Northeast-10 Field Hockey Championships, the sixth-seeded Bentley University Falcons will be at number three Merrimack College Tuesday afternoon at 4 pm for an opening round contest. For those unable to be in attendance, the game will be webcast over www.merrimackathletics.tv.

Awaiting the winner will be a semifinal contest Friday at second-seeded Assumption College. The championship game will be played Sunday afternoon with the highest surviving seed hosting. In the other half of the bracket, Saint Anselm will be at Stonehill for the right to play a semifinal at top-seeded Adelphi University.

Bentley and Merrimack squared off twice during the regular season with each prevailing on its home turf. The Falcons spoiled the Warriors' season-opener back on Sept. 9 and Merrimack turned the tables three weeks ago, 5-2.

 Coach Jessica Spencer's Bentley team will enter the conference championships with a 9-8 record following an overtime 1-0 loss at Assumption Saturday, the team's third straight 1-0 game. The previous two were victories and completed an 8-1 home season for the Falcons.

Junior Evelyn Schaedel (Burlington, Vt./Burlington HS), the NE-10 Goalie of the Week, backstops a defense that has allowed one or no goals 11 times. Schaedel will enter Tuesday's contest with a 6-4 record and a 1.67 goals against average after having allowed only one goal over her last 236 minutes of action.

Bentley's offense has been spread out with five different players having either three or four goals, and eight having produced the game-winner. Senior Kelsey Howard (Scarborough, Maine/ Scarborough HS) and freshman Rachel Crowley (Leicester/Notre Dame Academy) share the team-lead in goals (4) while senior Meghan Talerman (Centerville/Barnstable HS), whose overtime game-winner last Wednesday against LIU Post clinched a spot in the championships, has a team-best 11 points with three goals and five assists.

Merrimack, third in the NE-10 in scoring with an average of 3.1 goals, finished the regular season at 13-4 following a 2-1 road loss to Saint Anselm Saturday. The Warriors have three of the conference's top ten scorers, including Mary McNeil with 12 goals and nine assists for 33 points. Madison Davis handles duties in goal with her season having included three shutouts and a 1.38 GAA.