STANDISH, ME -It has been announced that the Saint Joseph's College Field Hockey and Men's Lacrosse programs will join the North Atlantic Conference beginning with the 2008-09 academic year. NCAA automatic qualifiers will be awarded to the team that wins the NAC tournament championship in both sports.

The SJC field hockey program competed in the NAIA from its first season, 1995, through 2001 and has played as an NCAA Division III Independent since '01. The field hockey squad concluded their 2007 season with a program-best 14-7 record and a trip to the ECAC Tournament for the first time, where the women lost to Bridgewater State College (MA) in the championship game, 1-0.

The men's lacrosse program, new to St. Joe's in 2008, recently completed its first season at the NCAA Division III level and is primed to take the next step towards in becoming a formidable program in New England. After playing their inaugural season without a conference affiliation, thus no NCAA automatic bid for winning a tournament championship, it was announced this week that the Monks have been admitted into the North Atlantic Conference for the 2009 season. The team posted a 2-9 record in the 2008.

After two years in the NAC, the men's lacrosse program will join the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, which currently does not sponsor the sport but will do so beginning with the 2011 season. The GNAC will not hold an automatic qualifier for NCAA postseason play in men's lacrosse until the 2013 season as a two-year probationary period is required for a new conference to attain an NCAA tournament bid.

Presently, 12 of the 14 sports at Saint Joseph's College compete in the GNAC.

For more information on the North Atlantic Conference, please visit www.nacathletics.com.