After more than a month away from the lanes, the Saint Francis University bowling team opens postseason competition at the Northeast Conference Championship with a play-in mega match against Merrimack on Friday at Hamilton Lanes in Hamilton, N.J.

The Red Flash, who locked in the fifth and final seed in the conference's postseason tournament at the final conference regular season tournament in February, will now face an uphill battle to claim the conference crown, as their path starts with a win-or-go-home play-in battle against a Merrimack team that is coming off of a first place finish at last weekend's Northeast Region Roundup.

THE WORD ON MERRIMACK
The Warriors, who hold the conference's fourth seed, come into the battle ranked 16th in the nation in March's edition of the National Tenpin Coaches Association top-25 poll. They hold a 2-1 advantage over the Red Flash and have defeated Saint Francis in all but one meeting over the two years the Warriors have fielded a bowling program.

Merrimack picked up a 1043-869 win over Saint Francis on their way to a 3-4 record and a third-place finish at the final regular-season conference meeting. The only Red Flash victory in the series came at this year's second NEC regular-season tournament, a 929-879 victory in their best conference outing of the season.

The Warriors enter the postseason after winning the Northeast Region Roundup over No. 12 Mount St. Mary's and No. 19 Fairleigh Dickinson.

WITH A WIN
The winner of the play-in match will enter the double-elimination round against top-seeded Duquesne on Friday afternoon. A win over the Dukes secures a meeting against the winner of No. 2 Sacred Heart and No. 3 Fairleigh Dickinson, while a loss would draw a meeting between the losers of the two matches.

Last season, No. 4 seed Sacred Heart defeated No. 5 Saint Francis in the play-in match, then emerged from the win-or-go-home round to run the table in the double-elimination table by topping No. 1 Fairleigh Dickinson and No. 2 Duquesne before they claimed the crown with another victory over the top-seeded Knights, securing the conference's automatic bid to NCAA regional postseason competition.

BINGHAM'S STATUS
Fourth-year head coach Ashley Bingham, who directed the team to their second consecutive conference postseason tournament, will not make the trip to New Jersey due to health concerns, as announced by the team and athletic department late last week.

The concerns stem from a situation that arose at the Northeast Classic tournament in January, where Bingham left the tournament prematurely and has cautiously handled the situation as she continued leading the Red Flash down the stretch.

Instead, Saint Francis Senior Associate Athletic Director for Administration/Senior Woman Administrator Lisa Swope will handle coaching duties in the competition against Merrimack and throughout the tournament.

REGULAR SEASON RUNDOWN
The Frankies concluded the regular season with a 47-52 record, including 11 conference wins for the first time since 2019. The Red Flash received votes from the National Tenpin Coaches Association in three of the four polls released throughout the season.

They defeated many top-ranked opponents along the way, opening the season with a 939-913 victory over No. 3 Nebraska at the Penguin Classic, which they followed with a conference-opening win over No. 11 Duquesne, their first victory over the Dukes since 2019. Saint Francis was the only program in the country to go undefeated in multiple attempts against reigning national champion Vanderbilt, as they defeated the nation's No. 1 team 1053-999 at the UMES Hawk Classic and topped the Commodores again in a 761-722 win at the Northeast Classic in January.

FOLLOW US
The Red Flash's run at the Northeast Conference Championships is set to be broadcast live on NEC Front Row, the conference's official streaming platform. 

For more information on the Red Flash, visit sfuathletics.com and follow RedFlashBowling on Facebook, Instagram, and X.