LORETTO, Pa. (Nov. 11, 2010) –Saint Francis University will be gunning for the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance as it heads to the Northeast Conference Men's Soccer Championship for the first time in three years. The Red Flash earned the No. 3 seed and will face No. 2 Sacred Heart at 1:30 p.m. on Friday on The Great Lawn at Monmouth University.

Monmouth earned the conference's No. 1 seed and the right to host the event, and will kick off the tournament against No. 4 Fairleigh Dickinson at 11 a.m. Friday. The winners of Friday's games will face off against each other at Noon on Sunday.

“We are excited about this new challenge,” said Saint Francis head coach Michael Casper. “This is what we worked hard for all offseason and then in our first 17 games. Our guys have put in a tremendous amount of work, and they deserve this opportunity. This is a very competitive field, and it's going to be difficult, but our guys have what it takes to be successful here.”

This will be SFU's fourth appearance in the Northeast Conference Men's Soccer Championship. The Red Flash also advanced in 2004, 2006 and 2007. They advanced to the league's championship game in 2006 and 2007, but just missed out on an automatic NCAA berth with 1-0 losses against Monmouth and Central Connecticut State, respectively.

Casper has been a member of Saint Francis' men's soccer staff for all four NEC Men's Soccer championship appearances, and was a first-year head coach during the team's run in 2007. The Red Flash had one of the program's finest regular seasons, tying school records with 10 overall wins (10-6-1) and six Northeast Conference victories (6-3-1).

For periodic men's soccer updates and other Red Flash news, follow Director of Athletic Communications Bob Volkert on Twitter at SFUVolkert.