NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The top three Little East Conference men’s soccer teams accepted postseason invitations this afternoon. Rhode Island College received the conference’s automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Tournament, while Eastern Connecticut State University and the University of Southern Maine earned two of the top-five seeds in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III New England Tournament.

The Anchormen are making their debut in the national field after capturing the Little East Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday. Rhode Island College (12-5-4) scored the lone marker in the championship match in the 87th minute to edge Plymouth State University and raise the championship trophy for the first time in the program’s history. The Anchormen, who are unbeaten in 16 of their past 18 matches, will face the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Champion, Babson College (16-4-1), at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15. The victor will advance to square off against either Rensselaer (13-5-1) or Stevens Institute of Technology (16-2-2) the following afternoon. The Beavers will provide in-game statistics and video for each of the three matches on the weekend.

The Warriors are making the program’s second straight appearance in the postseason, earning the top-seed in the eight-team ECAC New England field. Eastern Connecticut (13-3-3) will host eighth-seeded Nichols College (11-9-1) at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 12 in the quarterfinal round. If the Warriors can get past the Bison, Eastern Connecticut will welcome either fourth-seeded Husson College (10-6-1) or fifth-seeded University of Southern Maine (12-8-1) to Willimantic three days later.

For the third time in the past five seasons, the Huskies will compete in the ECAC New England Tournament. Southern Maine won the Little East regular season championship and earned the top-seed in the conference tournament. The Huskies are pitted against the North Atlantic Conference Champions, Husson College. Southern Maine and the Eagles share five common opponents, including two Little East clubs. Husson lost to Eastern Connecticut (8-1) and Keene State (7-0), while the Huskies were 1-1 against those common opponents.

For complete coverage of the Little East Conference men’s soccer teams, please log-in to the conference Web site for scores and game recaps.