Rob Palardy, Sports Information Director
FITCHBURG, Mass. – New England Football
Conference Commissioner Sue Lauder has announced a restructuring of
the Conference that will take place prior to the 2013 season. The
NEFC, founded in 1965 by Bridgewater State College, Curry College,
and Maine Maritime Academy, will function as an eight team league
and will retain the NEFC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III
Championship Tournament. The realigned NEFC will consist of
Curry College, Endicott College, Maine Maritime Academy, MIT,
Nichols College, Salve Regina University, the U.S. Coast Guard
Academy, and Western New England University.
Institutions that are currently members of the multi-sport
Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (Bridgewater
State University, Fitchburg State University, Framingham State
University, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Westfield State
University, and Worcester State University) will compete in a newly
formed MASCAC football league. Plymouth State University and
UMass Dartmouth, two schools that have a playing relationship with
the MASCAC through an affiliation agreement between the MASCAC and
the Little East Conference, will also join the new league.
“It's been an honor to have been a member of the NEFC
and to work with the quality student athletes, coaches and
administrators at all of the NEFC institutions,” said Lauder
who is also the Director of Athletics at Fitchburg. “I
wish the conference continued success and look forward to
maintaining relationships with NEFC members.”
The NEFC, with 16 members divided into two divisions, is the
largest Division III football conference in the nation. The
Conference's championship game between the winners of the two
divisions is also unique among Division III football.
“I believe this is good for all teams in both the NEFC and
the MASCAC,” said Endicott head coach JB
Wells. “This restructuring should allow us to
set our sights on winning a conference championship in the regular
season then focus on being a competitive in the NCAA
Tournament.”
Dating back to 2003, the first season of varsity competition for
Endicott, eight of the nine conference champions have been from one
of the remaining institutions in the newly restructured NEFC.
Historically, Endicott holds a 31-16 record against Curry, Maine
Maritime, MIT, Nichols, Salve Regina and Western New England and a
10-1 mark over the past two seasons. The Gulls have never
faced Coast Guard in their nine-year history.
The Blue and Green earned their first ever NEFC title in 2010
which led to an appearance in the NCAA Division III
Tournament. Behind strong leadership and immense skill from
their senior class, the Gulls followed up their record-breaking
2010 campaign with an even more impressive season in 2011.
All-time records across offense, defense and special teams resulted
in a program-best 11 wins and an Eastern College Athletic
Conference (ECAC) North Atlantic Bowl victory over Mount Ida,
31-22.
Includes contributions from NEFC Release
