WALTHAM, Mass. – After closing out the regular season with five win in its final seven games, the Bentley University field hockey team will launch its bid for a record tenth Northeast-10 Conference playoff title Wednesday night when its hosts fifth-seeded American International College.  Game time is set for 7 pm.

The two teams, who tied for fourth in the final standings, met once during the regular season, back on Oct. 8, with the Falcons pulling out a 3-2 win on a sudden-victory overtime goal by freshman Gina Lirange (Auburn/Auburn HS). That victory gave Bentley the higher seed and the right to host the first-round game.

The winner of Wednesday's game will advance to Friday's semifinals at Merrimack College, where they'll be pitted against the top-seeded and NE-10 regular season champion Warriors.

While Bentley has the higher seed, AIC will come into Waltham with a better overall record and a higher ranking in this week's National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division II coaches poll that was announced on Tuesday. The Yellow Jackets are 11-7 overall with a number nine ranking, and the tenth-ranked Falcons will enter the postseason at 9-8. Home field could play a role as Bentley is 6-4 on its home turf and AIC is 4-6 away from its campus.

Statistically, both are almost identical, with each having allowed 30 goals. At the offensive end, Bentley has scored one more, 42-41, after finishing the regular season with six straight games with two or more goals.

Offensively, Bentley is led by senior Stephanie Sideris (Watertown/Watertown HS) and junior Nicole Dion (Lunenburg/Lunenburg HS). Sideris, the NE-10 Player of the Week, is coming off a six-goal, 13-point explosion on Saturday against Southern Connecticut and currently has 14 goals and nine assists for the season.  Dion has five goals in the last five contests and follows with 9-2-20 for the season.

Juniors Kaitlyn Marcinek (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug HS) and Beth Maguire (Medfield/ Medfield HS), senior Tori Bergantino (Waltham/Waltham HS), and Lirange are the other scoring threats for Bentley with the quartet having combined for 14 goals.

AIC has five players who have at least five goals to their credit, with the list headed by freshman Jenna Masionis with eight. Junior Lisa Duckles follows with seven, and both Masionis and Duckles are among the four Yellow Jackets with four assists.

Expected to be in goal Wednesday night are junior Julia Powell (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug HS) for Bentley and senior Kim Steiner for AIC. Powell has a 1.76 goals against average and five shutouts, and Steiner owns a 1.61 GAA with three shutouts.

Bentley has won its last four NE-10 playoff games while claiming both the 2008 and 2009 championships.

In the other first round game, third-seeded Franklin Pierce will be at home against number six Stonehill.  That winner will be paired against defending champion UMass-Lowell in the semis, and the championship game is scheduled for Sunday afternoon.