BEVERLY, Mass. - Endicott College has earned the top seed for The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) men’s lacrosse championship, which begins with quarterfinal round games on Saturday, May 1. The Gulls (10-7 overall) claimed the top seed in the conference tournament after posting a 9-1 record in TCCC play. Endicott will open the tournament with a quarterfinal matchup against \#8 seed University of New England (6-10 overall, 2-8 TCCC) on Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. in Beverly, Mass.

Endicott and Western New England (11-5 overall) finished with identical 9-1 conference records, but the Gulls were awarded the top seed based on a 9-8 victory over WNEC when the teams squared off on April 3.

Three other quarterfinal games are also slated for Saturday, May 1, including \#2 seed Western New England hosting \#7 seed Curry (8-8, 4-6) in Springfield, Mass., \#3 seed Gordon (10-4, 8-2) hosting \#6 seed New England College (8-8, 6-4) in Wenham, Mass., and \#4 seed Roger Williams (9-6, 7-3) hosting \#5 seed Salve Regina (9-7, 6-4) in Bristol, R.I.

In addition to the tiebreaker for the top seed, TCCC tiebreaking procedures were also used to determine the \#5 and \#8 seeds. Salve Regina earned the \#5 seed over New England College based on a 10-8 victory in the teams’ matchup on April 24.

For the eighth and final seed, a three-way tie existed among University of New England, Wentworth and Nichols. The tie was unable to be broken after applying the first four steps of the TCCC tiebreaking procedures. In the fifth and final step, University of New England proved victorious in a three-way coin flip.

Start times for all four quarterfinal matches are tentatively scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Start times may be adjusted in order to accommodate men’s and women’s lacrosse doubleheaders.

Quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinal round on Wednesday, May 5.

Tournament action culminates with the championship game on Saturday, May 8. The TCCC tournament champion will earn an automatic berth in the upcoming 2010 NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse Championship.

The complete tournament schedule appears below.

2010 TCCC MEN’S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Quarterfinals • Saturday, May 1
\#8 University of New England at \#1 Endicott, 1:00 p.m. *
\#7 Curry at \#2 Western New England, 1:00 p.m. *
\#6 New England College at \#3 Gordon, 1:00 p.m. *
\#5 Salve Regina at \#4 Roger Williams, 1:00 p.m. *

Semifinals • Wednesday, May 5
\#1/8 winner vs. \#4/5 winner (at higher seed), 4:00 p.m. *
\#2/7 winner vs. \#3/6 winner (at higher seed), 4:00 p.m.*

Championship Match • Saturday, May 8
Semifinal Winners (at higher seed), 1:00 p.m. *