GANSEVOORT, N.Y. – The defending North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) champion Wells College field hockey team claimed this year’s regular season title, which earned the Express the right to host the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) West Division Tournament Championship next weekend. 

The Wells Express finished with a 2-1 record in conference play to claim the regular season divisional crown and be the host and top seed of the NAC West Division Tournament Championship, which will be held on Saturday, October 29 at 1 p.m.  They will now take on Wilson College, as the Phoenix claimed the other spot in the title game following a second-place finish in the divisional standings after claiming the head-to-head tiebreaker over Keuka College.  The bout will also mark a rematch from the first-ever NEAC championship match held last season. 

The winner between Wells and Wilson will then move on to face off against the NAC East Division Tournament Champion on Saturday, November 5, which will proclaim an overall champion.  The victor will then earn the NAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Field Hockey Championship Tournament. 

Beginning this season, NEAC full members Keuka College, Wells College and Wilson College became associate members of the NAC and represented the West Division.  NAC members Castleton University, Colby-Sawyer College, Husson University, University of Maine-Farmington, New England College and Thomas (Me.) College make up the East Division.  Each division conducted regular season competition before holding divisional rounds of the NAC Tournament.  This partnership will also run through the 2017-18 season.   

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The North Eastern Athletic Conference has fourteen NCAA Division III member institutions which include: Bryn Athyn College, Cazenovia College, College of St. Elizabeth, Gallaudet University, Keuka College, Lancaster Bible College, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Pennsylvania State University - Abington, Pennsylvania State University - Berks, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Morrisville State College, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Wells College, and Wilson College.  Associate members are: Cedar Crest College (W Swimming), D’Youville College (M Volleyball), Hilbert College (M Lacrosse & M Volleyball), Medaille College (M&W Lacrosse & M Volleyball), Penn State Altoona (M Volleyball) and Rutgers University - Camden (M Golf).  The North Eastern Athletic Conference has partnered with the North Atlantic Conference in the sports of field hockey and men’s and women’s tennis.