NORTH ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Before looking ahead to the 2025-26 school year, the Northeast 10 is looking back, allowing fans to decide the Moment of the Year from the previous season in a social media vote on Instagram.

Thirty two moments were selected by school sports information directors and the league office and a bracket was created by a computer randomizer.  Starting June 10th, each weekday at noon two first round matchups will be posted on the NE10’s Instagram story.  Fans will be able to vote for their favorite of those moments, with the winners advancing to the next round.

The quarterfinals will begin on June 20th with the semifinals kicking in on June 26th.  The championship will be held on July 1st to decide the NE10 fan’s Moment of the Year.

The 32 moments are listed below in their opening round pairings.  Again, the bracket was created by computer randomization.

DAY 1: Kaylee Matsuda College World Series Walk-off vs. Saint Michael’s Soccer Wins Record
After being struck in the head by a pitch earlier in the game, Kaylee Matsuda delivered a walk-off, extra inning single to defeat Saginaw Valley State in an elimination game of the College World Series.

DAY 1: FPU Sweeps the Steeplechase vs. St. Anselm Lacrosse Win over Adelphi
The Ravens made thier mark at the NE10 Outdoor Track & Field Championship, putting three members on the podium, led by All-NE10 performer Ryan Outerbridge.

St. Anselm knocked off defending national champion Adelphi in the regular season, earning its first win over the Panthers in school history and helping secure the second undefeated regular season in Hawks history.

DAY 2: FPU Baseball Advances to Supers vs. Cameron Belton is NCAA Runner-Up
Franklin Pierce baseball was one of the strongest teams in the NE10 all season, and after earning an at-large berth to the NCAA Regional as the No. 5 seed, the Ravens fought off elimination against Thomas Jefferson and beat the Rams twice to advance to (and host) the NCAA Super Regional.

Cameron Belton lost only three shot put competitions all season — two of them were NCAA Championships.  The SCSU star was third in the country during the indoor season and finished as national runner-up in the outdoor.  One of the best shot put athletes in the country, Belton was the indoor and outdoor NE10 Field Athlete of the Year.

DAY 2: Bentley Volleyball Advances to Final Four vs. McPherson Returns Pair of Blocks   
Bentley made history in the fall, becoming the first NE10 women’s volleyball team to advance to the national semifinals.  The Falcons did that by knocking off the previously undefeated No. 1 team in the country, Ferris State.

Shakeer McPherson did the unique twice this fall.  The Assumption special teamer returned a blocked kick for a touchdown … in consecutive weeks.  

DAY 3: Franklin Pierce Advances to the Final Four vs. AIC Upsets Assumption
Franklin Pierce got hot at the right time last fall, rattling off 11 straight wins to capture the NE10 Championship and advance to the National Semifinals.  The Ravens finished 20-4-1.

AIC knocked Assumption from NE10 title contention when Fatir Bell hauled in a TD pass with 15 seconds left to seal a win.

DAY 3: Assumption MBB Wins the Region vs. Saint Michael’s Softball Defeats Pace
Daeman entered the NCAA Championship as the No. 1 team in the nation, but Assumption was the team that left Buffalo with the trophy.  The Hounds captured their first men’s basketball regional title in 50 years before heading to Evansville.

Saint Michael’s became the only team in the NE10 to beat Pace en route to the Setters heading to the College World Series.  The Knights almost ended the Pace postseason early, toppling it during the opening matchup of the NE10 Championship with an early home run off Gisselle Garcia.  Pace bounced back to win the next game and advance.

DAY 4: Saint Michael’s Wins NE10 Ice Hockey vs. Bentley Heads to the Elite 8
The Purple Knights won the NCAA National Championship in 1999 — and about a quarter century later they reclaimed glory with the NE10 Championship, upsetting No. 1 St. Anselm in Manchester.

Bentley completed a near-perfect East Region run, toppling Holy Family in Waltham to win the East and advance to the Elite 8 for the 15th time in school history.  The win was also Bentley’s 29th straight.

DAY 4: Kurtis Henderson Wins SNHU an NE10 Title vs. AIC Clinches Division Title
SNHU was in a near literal dogfight with Pace in the NE10 Championship.  It came down to the wire and Kurtis Henderson hit the shot every child dreams of in their driveway — a three just before the buzzer to win the conference crown.

With the chance to host the NE10 Championship in the air, AIC faced New Haven in Springfield.  The Jackets allowed four runs in the top of the ninth inning to cough up the lead before Josh Formeta belted the walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth.  Yeudy Ramirez also hit for the cycle in the game.

DAY 5: Kha’lil Eason Returns Pair of KOR for TD’s vs. St. Anselm Wins NCAA Title
Kha’lil Eason turned immediate heads this fall when he ran back two kickoffs more than 90yds each for a pair of touchdowns vs. Pace.

Maddy Davis scored in OT, knocking off the defending field hockey national champion Kutztown and delivering St. Anselm the school’s first NCAA title in any sport.

DAY 5: Bentley Breaks NCAA Record vs. New Haven Wins First NE10 Title
The Bentley men’s basketball team drained a three for the 1,000th straight game on November 23rd vs. CSI — yes, 1,000 straight games.  The Falcons are the first team in DII to eclipse the 1,000 game mark and hold the NCAA record.

New Haven women’s tennis knocked off defending champion Adelphi in a clean sweep to earn the team’s first NE10 title.

DAY 6: McAllistar Milne seals the NE10 Title vs. AIC Volleyball Winning 20 Straight
The Owls were pushed to the limit in the NE10 Championship, but Milne came to the rescue at the end, winning the 200m Butterfly in 1:51:27, edging out a pair of Adelphi swimmers, including the top seeded competitor in the field.  The win held off a surging Panther squad that was looking for its first NE10 title.

After getting off to a tough start against a tough non-conference slate, AIC found its groove and won 20 consecutive matches en route to an NE10 Championship.

DAY 6: Declan Landers Beats the Horn vs. Adelphi Soccer Advances in PKS
Pace men’s lacrosse forced overtime vs. Molloy in the NCAA Championship when a full-field pass found Declan Landers, who scored with no time remaining.

Who says you need to be an offensive player? Alba López Martínez, Adelphi’s reserve keeper, came off the bench to score the final PK against Bentley in the NE10 Semifinals and push the Panthers into the Championship round.

DAY 7: Adelphi Lacrosse Goes Back-to-Back vs. Amelia Freitas Throws a No-No
The Adelphi Panthers won their second straight NCAA National Championship when Kyle Lewis scored in OT to abolish the previously unbeated reign of No. 1 Tampa.

In a 14-0 win over AIC, Amelia Freitas tossed the first no-hitter in eight years for the Penmen.  Freitas was one batter away from a perfect game.

DAY 7: Assumption Field Hockey Goes Unbeaten vs. Tray Alexander Buzzer Beater
The Assumption Greyhounds barked back after falling in the NE10 Championship in 2023.  The Hounds knocked off eventual NCAA Champion St. Anselm at home in shutout fashion to claim the league crown.

Pace advanced to the NE10 Championship, but they would never have happened without Tray Alexander at the buzzer.  The NE10 Player of the Year knocked down a game-winner at the horn in the NE10 Quaterfinals after Assumption had tied the game with just six seconds remaining.  

DAY 8: Elizabeth Driscoll Sets St. Anselm Wins Record vs. SNHU Beats FPU
Elizabeth Driscoll was named National Goalie of the Year in women’s lacrosse, and for good reason.  Driscoll saved better than 50% of shots faced this season and earned her 36th career win, a St. Anselm record.

Franklin Pierce hadn’t lost a men’s soccer game in 63 tries — an NCAA DII record.  That ended when SNHU beat the Ravens, 4-2, in October.  The Penmen went on to win the NE10 Championship.

DAY 8: Albert Vargas SCSU Debut vs. Ryan Kakimseit Goes Unbeaten
Welcome to Division II.  Albert Vargas burried a buzzer beater to open the NCAA men’s basketball season and knock off CSI in his first game as a member of the SCSU Owls.

Ryan Kakimseit was named the Most Outstanding Performer at the 2025 NE10 Swimming Championship after winning ever race he entered.  The Panthers came in second as a team, the best finish in school history.
 

ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 10 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.

Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
 
Fans can subscribe via this link to follow NE10 NOW on FloSports this season.  The partnership between the NE10 and FloSports works to provide funds back to the athletic departments of the Northeast-10 Conference in support of student-athletes while promoting the league on a national platform.

“I think those three months were great for me to kind of come to terms with making a pivot that I had not anticipated,” Turner said. “It was one of the things that really got me through a difficult experience down at basic training.”

A letter from Marmer arrived at a crucial time. In it, Marmer detailed for Turner all the decisions she had made in her first few months with the PWHL: staff hirings, the first few player signings and draft decisions, and the identity she wanted to create for her team.

“Joining the army at the ripe age of 29 is not an easy experience,” Turner said. “You’re used to your autonomy. And when she sent that to me, I was like, ‘This is amazing. I’m so excited.’ It reminded me of a world in which I had some freedom.”

Marmer’s goal in writing the letter wasn’t necessarily to convince her friend to make a career change, though that was part of it. Mainly, she wanted someone to share in her excitement about the future of women’s hockey.

“I didn’t know at the time how important [the letter] was to her,” Marmer said. “I would have written her more if I had known.”

After three months of mulling it over, Turner returned from basic training ready to take the leap.

She talked it through with her wife, Alexis, and left her stable job at PwC to become Marmer’s assistant general manager with PWHL Boston (now the Boston Fleet), a position she held through the league’s first two seasons while remaining an active member of the Army National Guard.

When the league announced it would expand to Seattle and Vancouver, PWHL executives asked Marmer and the five other general managers if there was anyone they would recommend to take the reins for the new teams. In Marmer’s mind, Turner was not only the obvious choice, but the only choice.

“They were like ‘Great, glad you said that, because we were going to talk to her anyway,’ ” Marmer said.

Within weeks, Turner was named the inaugural GM of PWHL Seattle — a step Marmer said felt inevitable after playing and working with Turner for the better part of a decade.

“I couldn’t be more excited for her,” Marmer said. “She’s going to do a phenomenal job. She’s incredibly bright, she’s organized, she’s a great leader. She’s culture driven. She’s going to have something really special in Seattle.”

For years, when a young Marmer got in the car after youth hockey games and tryouts, she and her father broke down her performance before the conversation inevitably turned to his favorite player to watch: No. 12 on the New Hampshire team, Meghan Turner.

Marmer couldn’t fault her father for that. Turner, with quiet confidence and undeniable skill, was the young Marmer’s favorite player to watch, too.

Turner was one of the best players in her age group in New Hampshire, and Marmer was performing similarly in Vermont, so their paths crossed regularly on the youth hockey circuit. They each attended top boarding schools — Marmer at Loomis Chaffee in Connecticut and Turner at Philips Exeter in New Hampshire — before their paths crossed again at Quinnipiac University.

The pair became fast friends.

“Meghan became such a great hockey player because she believed in herself in a different way than I did,” Marmer said. “The thought of embarrassing herself wasn’t something that stopped her from trying to be great.”

Turner worked her way up to play on the top line and served as an assistant captain for the Bobcats. She earned her B.A. and M.B.A. in four years, then began a career in consulting.

On top of working 55 hours per week at PwC, Turner played professional hockey, first for the CWHL’s Worcester Blades and later the PWHPA. She’d often leave her house at 7 a.m., work a full day before heading to practice, then return home around 10 p.m. and keep working until late into the night.

But after a few years, the game started getting faster, her responsibilities at work and with her family grew, and Turner couldn’t keep up. She hung up her skates in 2022.

Around the same time, Marmer, who had just taken a job in scouting and player development for the Bruins, came to live with Turner and her wife. The timing was serendipitous, and the pair picked up right where they had left off at Quinnipiac — staying up late into the night to talk about the game they both loved.

“I was happy to be talking hockey again, and it was cool to be a bit of a fly on the wall and learn from her how the player development world works in the NHL,” Turner said.

Those conversations were equally enlightening for Marmer.

“I always thought in those moments, ‘You should be doing this,’ ” Marmer said.

That thought lingered in the back of Marmer’s mind throughout the year she worked with the Bruins, and in 2023, while she weighed the decision to jump ship to an upstart league, a mentor within the Bruins organization posed a question:

It’s a tough job, and you can’t go at it alone, so who are you going to take with you who you trust with your life?

“Meghan’s name immediately popped into my head,” she said. “There was no other option.”

Emma Healy can be reached at emma.healy@globe.com or on X @ByEmmaHealy.

Colleges Are Now Allowed to Pay NCAA Athletes Directly After Judge Approves Settlement

The NCAA’s amateurism model has officially been reshaped.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken gave final approval to a $2.8 billion settlement in the House v. NCAA case, marking a monumental turning point in college sports history.

Starting July 1, NCAA Division I schools will be permitted to compensate athletes directly, forever altering the dynamic between collegiate athletics and the business of sports.

For the first time, athletes will receive direct payments from their schools.

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These funds are guided by a salary cap, initially set at $20.5 million per school, which will increase over the next decade.

This cap represents 22% of total revenue from sources such as ticket sales, broadcasting, and sponsorships.

Most of these funds will likely go to sports that generate the most revenue, including football and basketball, though schools will have flexibility in how they allocate this money.

Beyond paying current athletes, the settlement includes a substantial $2.8 billion damages pool to compensate former athletes who played from 2016 to 2024 and were ineligible for name, image, and likeness (NIL) earnings during their careers.

The settlement not only allows schools to pay athletes but also introduces new structures to monitor and enforce these payments.

The College Sports Commission, a new enforcement body, will oversee compliance, ensure salary caps are respected, and review NIL contracts for fairness.

Deloitte will manage an NIL clearinghouse to vet endorsement deals and curb inappropriate financial arrangements, such as booster-backed contracts designed to bypass team salary caps.

This decision has brought college sports into what some are calling a “professionalized framework.”

For decades, athletes were restricted to scholarships and modest benefits while schools raked in billions from game-related revenues.

Now, student-athletes will receive a share of these profits, aligning their compensation more directly with the value they generate for their institutions.

NCAA President Charlie Baker praised the decision, calling it:

“a huge step forward for college sports.”

However, this isn’t the end of the transformation.

The move sets the stage for further discussions around creating a more sustainable regulatory structure, potentially involving federal legislation to address outstanding legal challenges.

While historic, the agreement isn’t without obstacles.

The introduction of salary caps and formal compensation frameworks may invite future lawsuits, especially around Title IX compliance and the fairness of enforcement practices.

Additionally, some worry the changes will widen the divide between wealthy programs and smaller schools that may struggle to meet financial expectations.

The settlement also raises questions about the future role of NIL collectives, as schools begin to manage payments in-house.

Critics argue that overly stringent regulation of NIL deals could spark further litigation.

The NCAA settlement is a groundbreaking achievement, promising to improve athletes’ lives while modernizing an outdated system.

However, as college sports leadership navigates this uncharted territory, the coming years will undoubtedly present additional tests and opportunities for reform.

For now, though, athletes and advocates alike can celebrate the long-awaited recognition of their contributions to the multi-billion-dollar industry of college sports.

Here are five top stories you may have missed this week.

Downtown Athens hosts annual PrideFest

Hundreds gathered downtown for Athens’ annual PrideFest that was held on Saturday. The event was held to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community in Athens. Attendees from all over the state visited vendors, booths and shows before watching the large parade that began at 5 p.m. PrideFest, originally scheduled to run till 10 p.m., ended early in the evening due to inclement weather. 

Read more about PrideFest here.  

UGA 2025 football schedule times announced

The University of Georgia released its full 2025 football season schedule. The schedule sees the Bulldogs playing in seven home games, three away games and two neutral site games. 

The Bulldogs will face off against Marshall at Sanford Stadium in the team’s season opener on Aug. 30 at 3:30 p.m. 

Read more about the schedule release here.

Athens advocate Tim Denson announces campaign for ACC mayor

Tim Denson, advocate and public servant, announced his campaign for Athens-Clarke County mayor. Denson previously served as District 5 commissioner from 2019 to 2022 and was former president and organization coordinator of the advocacy group Athens for Everyone.

The Athens-Clarke County mayoral election is in May 2026.

Read more about Denson’s campaign announcement here. 

Rock Lobsters name Garrett Rutledge as new head coach

The Athens Rock Lobsters announced that Garret Rutledge will be the team’s new general manager of hockey operations and head coach for next season. Rutledge will replace Steve Martinson who announced his departure to return to the Allen Americans of the ECHL.

Rutledge was previously named the 2023 Federal Prospects Hockey League Coach of the Year after leading the Carolina Thunderbirds to a division title. 

Read more about Rutledge’s hire here and an in-depth interview with Rutledge here. 

Benjamin Ayers appointed UGA provost following S. Jack Hu’s departure

Benjamin Ayers, dean of the C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry College of Business, will become the University of Georgia’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, UGA President Jere W. Morehead announced on May 29.

Ayers will fill the position previously held by S. Jack Hu who stepped down to become chancellor of the University of California, Riverside. 

Read more about Ayers’ appointment here.