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Howell, NJ -- What once looked almost certain had suddenly turned to unlikely.

"This has been running through barbed wire all weekend," said Saint Francis U head coach Tom Falbo of the challenge of navigating through the NEC championship bracket.

Falbo's Red Flash built a 3-1 lead in the Best-Of-7 baker battle that would decide the winner of the championship round mega match.

Simply put, the Flash were 10 frames away from the conference crown.

With its back against the wall, top-seeded Sacred Heart produced game scores of 220, 234 and 235 to storm back for a 4-3 win and force another Best-Of-7 baker bout to determine the 2018 NEC champion.

SHU kept the heat on in the enusing battle, shooting out to a 3-1 lead over Saint Francis U in the winner-take-all baker match.

The SFU Red Flash went from being one baker game victory away from securing the conference crown to the brink of elimination, but Tom Falbo's sqaud didn't waver.

"We just take our deep breaths and we just keep pushing," Saint Francis junior Sarah Littleton, an all-NEC first team selection who hit a number of key shots throughout the weekend.

Returning the favor to Sacred Heart, Saint Francis U fought back to win in seven games.

"They knew how to respond," said Falbo.

Perhaps no player responded better than junior Haley Carroll.

With SFU facing elimination, Falbo made a slight lineup tweak for Game 5. The veteran head coach flipped his setup and anchor bowlers, moving Littleton up to the No. 4 spot while sliding Carroll into the fifth position.

Immediately paying dividends, Littleton and Carroll both struck on their first shots of the fifth game and proceeded to power the comeback.

Not only did the duo kick-start the comeback, but they completed it, too.

With the outcome of Game 7 still undecided, Littleton struck in the ninth frame to set up Carroll who doubled in the 10th.

Hannah Schorr, the lone senior on the Red Flash roster, came in to throw the fill ball and ended it with a strike.

"We all had each other backs. It didn't matter what position I was in. We bowled so well as a team," Carroll said after the victory. "I will remember this moment forever. This was the epitome of grinding."

The Red Flash's resiliency earned the team an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. Saint Francis U will hear its name called when the NCAA reveals the 10-team tournament field on Wednesday, March 28 at 4:00 pm ET on NCAA.com.

"It means the world to us," said Littleton. "We've talking about this all season. It's really a dream come true."

Sacred Heart, which was searching for its fourth NEC Tournament title, swept past St. Francis Brooklyn in a Sunday morning mega match to earn its way into the championship final.

Having started bowling at 7:25 am, the Pioneers battled into the early evening and pushed their opponent to the brink.

"I saw both teams bowling their heart out, bowling their soul out," said Falbo. "That [Sacred Heart] is a championship team that we beat today."


* NOTE: The 2018 All-Tournament Team and MVP will be chosen through a vote of NEC head coaches and will be announced at NortheastConference.org on March 29 *


Match 12: SFU vs SHU
Best-Of-7 Baker (Winner Take All)
Gm 1:  158-199, SHU
Gm 2:  232-160, SFU
Gm 3:  209-206, SHU
Gm 4:  177-142, SHU  
Gm 5:  236-184, SFU
Gm 6:  189-177, SFU
Gm 7:  205-155, SFU