WALTHAM, Mass. – After finishing second in the Northeast-10 regular season standings, Bentley will host Southern New Hampshire on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Northeast-10 Men's Soccer Championship at 2:00 PM in the 2-7 matchup.

How we got here

Bentley went 5-3-2 in the NE10 for 17 points to finish in second and earn the No. 2 seed. That's the team's highest ever regular season finish under head coach Gary Crompton and the program's best since 1996.

The Penmen were 4-5-1 in NE10 matches for 13 points for a tie for sixth place with Southern Connecticut.

The Falcons went 5-1-1 over the final seven matches of the season. Before a 1-0 defeat at Southern Connecticut on the final day of the regular season, they were on a three-match winning streak and unbeaten in six straight.

Earlier this season

Bentley defeated SNHU 1-0 in Waltham back on Oct. 14. That was the second game of the six-game unbeaten run.

In that contest, freshman Antonio Santos scored just 53 seconds after halftime. The defense and goalkeepers Joe Griffin and Nick Maldarella produced the clean sheet.

Postseason history

This will be just the third postseason meeting between Bentley and SNHU. They met in the 2011 quarterfinals and the 2015 semifinals, both wins for the Penmen.

Head coach Gary Crompton has now led the Falcons to the postseason 11 times.

Bentley has reached the NE10 finals twice under Crompton, in 2010 and 2017.

The Falcons have won the NE10 championship three times in its history, in three straight seasons from 1992-94.

The Penmen have won it seven times. The most recent was 2015 which capped a four-year run as conference champions.

This will be the 42nd matchup all-time between the two programs.

NE10 bracket

The winner between Bentley and SNHU will face the winner of the 3-6 matchup between Adelphi and Southern Connecticut in the semifinals on Nov. 9.

On the other side of the bracket, No. 1 Franklin Pierce hosts No. 8 AIC and No. 4 Saint Rose hosts No. 5 Saint Anselm.

The championship match will be played on Sunday, Nov. 12 and hosted by the highest remaining seed.