By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University football team has earned a spot in the NCAA Div. 3 tournament.

The Bears, who were 9-1 during the regular season, received one of the eight at-large berths on Sunday night, putting them in the 32-team tourney for the first time since 2000.

BSU will travel to Chester, Pa., on Saturday to face Widener University (9-0), which won the Middle Atlantic Conference and will be playing in the NCAAs for the 13th time.

The Bears became just the second New England Football Conference team to reach the NCAAs via the at-large route, joining Curry College in 2008.

The only blemish on BSU's season was a 16-0 loss to Framingham State, the NEFC champion, on Sept. 21. The Bears won six consecutive games after that defeat

The nine wins included an opening-night road victory over Springfield College (7-3) which helped strengthen BSU's case.

"Honestly, we were pretty optimistic about getting in,'' said Bears coach Chuck Denune. "We felt our body of work spoke for itself.

"As long as they were going to follow the criteria of strength of schedule and statistics, we kind of felt that we would get in. We were pretty hopeful.''

Denune watched the NCAA selection show on the Internet with about a dozen of his players on campus. Most of the team had gone home for the holiday weekend, but the players who remained were thrilled when they saw "Bridgewater State'' pop up on the screen.

"I kind of got scared,'' said Denune, "because they were all screaming so loud. It's so exciting for us.''

BSU and Framingham State, which travels to Cortland in New York for an opening-round game, will represent the NEFC in the NCAAs in their final season in the conference. The teams are headed to the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference in 2013.

"I think us getting in says a lot for our program and the conference,'' said Denune. "The conference had some early-season wins against other conferences, like the Liberty League and the Empire 8, and that helped.

"When we beat Springfield, that was huge. That was a 7-3 Liberty League team, and to have that really helped.''

Widener had its first undefeated regular season since 2011. The Pride won national championships in 1977 and 1981 and will be making their first NCAA appearance since 2007.

The Pride rely heavily on the pass and are averaging 51.2 points per game. Quarterback Chris Haupt has completed 65 percent of his passes for 2,841 yards and 33 touchdowns.

"Getting to the tournament is a start,'' said Denune. "It's the first step of getting to where we want to be. It doesn't have to stop here. These players are not content with just making it. We want to win a football game.''

The Bears lost in the opening round of the NCAAs in 1999 (to Ursinus College, 43-38) and in 2000 (to Hobart College, 25-0).

BSU has won at least nine games for only the fifth time in program history. The 1999 team holds the record with 10 victories.