FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Northeast Conference Council of Presidents announced the NEC Fall Sports Return to Play Plan set to commence during the 2021 spring semester. The Fairfield University field hockey program is an associate member of the NEC and won the 2019 conference regular-season and tournament title, advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
These recommendations, which call for both regular season and championship elements, were developed in conjunction with conference and institutional athletic administrators, the NEC Sports Management Committee, and the NEC COVID-19 Medical Advisory Committee.
Each fall sport aside from cross country will conduct a modified conference regular season scheduled followed by a one-game NEC playoff between the top two seeds to decide the conference's NCAA automatic qualifier. The NCAA Board of Directors announced in September its plan to shift 2020 fall sport championships to the 2021 spring semester.
The decision to participate in all or some of the fall sports in the spring will be made at the discretion of each NEC institution. Acknowledging the need for flexibility, the following regular season and championship sport formats are subject to reevaluation by the Presidents as the conference monitors health crisis data, along with updated COVID-19 guidance from federal, state, and campus levels.
The field hockey season will offer teams a single-round robin format which will include seven matches over five weeks from March 15 to April 12. Matches will be played Monday and Thursday. The NEC Championship match will be played the week of April 19-24 with the No. 1 seed hosting the No. 2 seed to determine the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament.
" We are thrilled about the NEC decision to play field hockey in the spring of 2021," Head Coach
Jackie Kane said. "Our team is excited to get back on the field. We have come to appreciate the moments we get to train and compete as a team and look forward to the opportunity to play this spring."
