WINTHROP, Mass. – Johnson & Wales will be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Field Hockey Championship Tournament after finishing the regular season 11-1 in conference (14-2 overall).
The Wildcats will be trying to pick up their third straight conference championship this season.
One of the teams trying to deny that opportunity is Lasell, which will be the No. 2 seed in this year's bracket. The Lasers also had an 11-1 GNAC record (14-1 overall), meaning the league's tiebreaking procedure was needed to determine the top seed.
JWU was awarded the top spot thanks to its head-to-head win over Lasell in their conference matchup during the regular season.
The three through five seeds also needed the league's tiebreaking procedure to sort things out as three teams – Colby-Sawyer, New England College, and Simmons – all finished with 9-3 conference records.
First, all three teams were compared in their head-to-head matchups. The Chargers defeated both other teams, earning them the No. 3 seed. The Sharks and Pilgrims were then compared head-to-head in a new tiebreaker with Simmons' 2-1 overtime victory in September granting it the last host duty for the quarterfinal round.
The GNAC Quarterfinals will take place on Saturday, Oct. 28. Top-seeded JWU will host No. 8 seed Regis (5-7 GNAC, 5-12 overall) at 3 p.m., while No. 2 seed Lasell welcomes No. 7 seed Saint Joseph's (Maine) (6-6 GNAC, 6-11 overall) at 11 a.m.. The other two quarterfinals will feature No. 3 seed Colby-Sawyer entertaining No. 6 seed Rivier (8-4 GNAC, 8-8 overall) at 1 p.m. and Simmons hosting NEC in the match up of the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds at 11 a.m.
The quarterfinal winners will advance to the GNAC Semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 1 with the JWU-Regis winner playing the winner of Simmons-NEC and the victors of the Lasell-SJC and Colby-Sawyer-Rivier matchups facing off.
The tournament will conclude with the 2023 GNAC Field Hockey Championship match on Saturday, Nov. 4 with the winner being crowned conference champion. The conference champion earns the league's automatic qualifier into the 2023 NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship.
2023 GNAC Field Hockey Tournament Schedule
Quarterfinals – Saturday, Oct. 28
(Hosted by higher seeds)
#8 Regis at #1 Johnson & Wales, 3 p.m.
#7 Saint Joseph's (Maine) at #2 Lasell, 11 a.m.
#6 Rivier at #3 Colby-Sawyer, 1 p.m.
#5 New England College at #4 Simmons, 11 a.m.
Semifinals – Wednesday, Nov. 1
(Hosted by higher seeds)
#1/8 Winner vs. #4/5 Winner, TBD
#2/7 Winner vs. #3/6 Winner, TBD
Championship – Saturday, Nov. 4
Semifinal winners, TBD
ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHEAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 16 member institutions and over 4000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
COURTESY OF THE GNAC SPORTS INFORMATION OFFICE
