2012 Bracket | Interactive Bracket | Replay the Selection Show

The UMass Lowell men's soccer team, in the midst of one of its best-ever seasons, will host the first two rounds of the 2012 NCAA Tournament East Region Championship, the NCAA announced Monday night during the Tournament Selection Show.

UMass Lowell, which drew the No. 4 seed in the six-team field, will host No. 5 Post University (13-3-5 overall, 8-0-3 in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference) Friday night at 7 p.m. at Cushing Field.

The UMass Lowell-Post winner moves on to play No. 1 seed/East Coast Conference champion LIU Post (18-1-0, 8-1-0 ECC) Sunday at 4 p.m. at Cushing Field.

The River Hawks (13-5-1, 10-3-0 NE-10) return to the NCAAs just two years removed from a 3-12-1 season in 2010.

“We just have had a great group of guys with a lot of talent. I felt it was a matter of time in getting to that level with the best teams in the region,” said coach Christian Figueroa, in his second full season. “We're excited to be given the opportunity to play in the national tournament, but we're also excited to put everything that's happened over the last couple of weeks behind us and focus on this weekend.”

UMass Lowell, which dropped three of its last four matches of the regular season, suffered a rash of minor injuries in the late going but, on a week's rest, Figueroa expects a fit squad.

LIU Post withdrew its bid to host one the first two rounds of the region due to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which has left parts of Long Island still without power and shortages on gas.

In the other East Region bracket, No. 2 Southern New Hampshire (17-3-0, 10-3-0 NE-10), the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament champion, will host the first two rounds. No. 3 Merrimack (14-3-2, 10-3-1 NE-10) meets No. 6 Franklin Pierce (11-5-2, 8-3-2 NE-10) in the first round at SNHU's George J. Larkin Field (6:00), the winner scheduled to meet the Penmen Sunday (3 p.m.).

UMass Lowell suffered a 2-0 loss to SNHU Friday night in the NE-10 Championship semifinal, which followed a 3-1 victory over Le Moyne Wednesday.

UMass Lowell makes its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and hosts the bracket for the first time ever. The River Hawks last made the field in 2008, when they captured the East Region and advanced to the quarterfinal round, losing at Dowling in double overtime.

UMass Lowell also qualified in 2007 (second round), 2004 (first round) and 2003 (quarterfinal).

UMass Lowell and Post have only met twice, the last time in 2009 in Lowell which saw the Eagles prevail 3-1. They also met in 1999.

“Post is a very good, very technical team top to bottom,” Figueroa said. “They've got players all over the field that can hurt us in different areas of the game. We will need to be sharp right from the first whistle. We need to be sharp defensively and in the final third in creating more opportunities.”

Post University is fresh off a 1-1 deadlock against Dominican in the CACC Tournament championship, in which Dominican won the title on penalty kicks. The Eagles won the CACC regular season title, outscoring foes 29-8 and 45-20 overall.