COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College women's soccer team hosts American International College on Sunday for a Northeast 10 Conference Championship first-round game at 1 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and children under 18, and free for students from NE10 institutions with a valid ID.
 
The third-seeded Purple Knights (8-2-5, 4-2-3 NE10) and sixth-seeded AIC (8-8-1, 4-5 NE10) needed wins in Wednesday's regular-season finales to set up the contest, with the Purple and Gold clinching the home game by virtue of a 3-0 win at Saint Anselm College. The Yellow Jackets needed a 2-0 victory against Pace University to even qualify for the seven-team tournament. In their lone regular-season meeting on Sept. 25, the Purple Knights parlayed a 28-2 lead in shots into a 2-0 win at AIC, with junior Scarlett Brookes (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Knolls) completing a brace by the 32nd minute. The teams met once before in the postseason, when No. 3 AIC defeated No. 6 Saint Michael's, 2-1, in an NE10 Championship quarterfinal on Oct. 29, 1990.
 
The Purple Knights are set to host a postseason affair for the second straight season after only hosting one previous postseason contest, a 1989 NE10 semifinal. Saint Michael's earned its first postseason win last fall, 1-0 over Bentley in the first round of the NE10 Championship on Brookes' second-half goal. The Purple and Gold made its first trip to the NE10 semifinals since 1989, losing to eventual national runner-up Franklin Pierce University, 2-1.
 
Saint Michael's began the year 7-0-3 as the final unbeaten team in the NCAA Division II East Region, but the final contest in that run, a tie against Southern New Hampshire University, was the beginning of a five-game winless streak, which also featured a deadlock with first-place Franklin Pierce, then the No. 5 team in the nation. The Purple Knights' win against Saint Anselm on Wednesday was their most decisive in nearly a month, and their first over the Hawks in 16 years. Saint Michael's received votes toward this week's United Soccer Coaches national poll and stood fourth in the NCAA's NPI East Region rankings, which determine the field for the six-team regional.
 
In Sunday's other first-round games, No. 4 Saint Anselm hosts No. 5 Assumption University at 12 p.m. before No. 2 Bentley University takes on No. 7 Southern Connecticut State University at 1 p.m. Semifinals take place on Nov. 5, with the Saint Michael's/AIC winner squaring off with the Bentley/Southern Connecticut State winner. The victor of the Saint Anselm/Assumption contest visits No. 1 Franklin Pierce at 7 p.m. The championship game is slated for Nov. 8 at the home of the highest-remaining seed.
 
Brookes keys the offense, placing third in the NE10 in goals (9) and fourth in points (22) one year after pacing the league in both and becoming the first All-America soccer player - men's or women's - in College history. Junior Jules Peterson (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) is tied for seventh in the NE10 in goals (6), while classmate Sarah Gormley (East Moriches, N.Y./Westhampton Beach) owns five goals and four assists, with three tallies going as game-winners, tied for fourth in the league. Junior Lola Follansbee (Grafton, Mass./Grafton) contributes four goals and three helpers, while senior Bridget Hanley (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) is sixth in the NE10 with six assists from her spot in the central midfield.
 
With 17 career shutouts, sophomore Chloe Laizer (West Springfield, Mass./West Springfield) is already one shy of Trish Hannan's '90 school mark. Laizer's eight shutouts this fall, which place her third in the NE10, are one short of the school record she set last season, and she is also third in the league in goals-against average (0.69) and fourth in save percentage (.815). A strong defensive corps is anchored by senior Bridget McLoughlin (Latham, N.Y./Shaker) and juniors Delaney Kleinman (Center Moriches, N.Y./Center Moriches), Julia Palmese (Berlin, Conn./Berlin) and Josie Rayhill (Kirkland, Wash./Lake Washington).
 
Now in her 14th season at Saint Michael's, Wendy Elles is tied for the longest head coaching tenure in program history. She has turned the program into a contender while constructing a deep roster through geographically-diverse recruiting. After resetting the program during her first six years, when the Purple Knights won a total of 14 games, they are 51-34-20 since 2019, including 35-9-10 the last three years. Their .741 winning percentage in that time is second in the league only to perennial national power Franklin Pierce (.799).