New London — Everything is in place for Connecticut College to clear the post-season hurdle.

The Camels are battle-tested from competing in the challenging New England Small College Athletic Conference, which has produced three of the last four Division III men's soccer national champions.

They're learned from last year's NCAA tournament appearance. And they'll be comfortable playing at home in front of their rabid fans.

Now all they've got to do is go out and beat Thomas College of Waterville, Me., in Saturday's NCAA first round game starting at 11 a.m. on Freeman Field.

They possess a different mindset than last season when Conn suffered an overtime loss to Rochester in the first round while making its first NCAA trip since 1995.

"Last year, it was so novel, being our first time in 20-so years for the program," senior co-captain Ben Manoogian said. "We were more glad to be there at that point. Obviously, you're trying to win. Our first round exit was tough but this year we know we've been there before and have the experience.

"Being back here and hosting, too, we have a lot more confidence this year. Majority of the team came back so they know what it's like to be there. We want a little redemption, for sure."

As a first-time host of the opening two rounds, a win Saturday would guarantee another home game on Sunday at 1 p.m. Ramapo College (15-3-2) faces Springfield College (14-4-1) in the other first round game.

Conn College (12-2-2) first has to deal with Thomas (13-4-1), which is making its fifth NCAA appearance in program history and first since 2015. The two teams have never met.

The Camels' last game serves as a painful reminder that upsets happen in post-season competition. With sights set on a NESCAC tournament title, they bowed out in the quarterfinals, losing to Hamilton.

"It was definitely a bit of a reality check," senior co-captain Ben Highton. "Anything can happen in tournament games."

The Camels will have to shake off any potential rust from the long layoff since that defeat on Oct. 28.

"They're excited," coach Kenny Murphy said. "I've very happy with the way they're trained. The only concern right now is we haven't played in two weeks. Once they get the nerves out in the first 10 minutes, I think we'll get after it."

In his 10th season in charge, Murphy has established a winning culture. The Camels are riding a streak of four straight winning seasons. They've earned two straight NCAA berths for the first time in program history. He was named the conference coach of the year.

Highton credits this season's success to experience.

"We returned a lot of guys this year and we kept our identity of who we are and what we're about," Highton said. "We didn't try to change anything. We knew we were a hard-working team and that we just had to grind out wins sometimes. That's what took us to the next level."

A disciplined, stingy defense serves as the foundation for the Camels, who are tied for second nationally in goals allowed this season with four.

Sophomore goalie AJ Marcucci, the NESCAC player of the year, has been nothing short of spectacular this season, owning a sparkling 0.26 goals against average. With help from the back line of Tyler Hoadley, Freddy Stokes, Liam Donelan and Luke Stoneback, Marcucci has posted 10 shutouts.

"Personally, I think AJ is the best goalie in the nation," Manoogian said. "To have someone like that that you just know even if we mess up, it's not the end of the world because we've got him in the net. Definitely lucky to have him."

Offensively, Conn College relies on a balanced attack. Christian Murphy leads the team in points with 14 (three goals, team-best eight assists) and fellow senior Uzii Dieng has four goals and five assists while sophomore Liam Noonan has a team-high five goals to go with an assist.

The Camels hope their home field advantage gives them an edge on Saturday. It would be a gut-wrenching feeling for them if they ended up being spectators for Sunday's second round game.

"Believe me, we don't plan on watching anyone play on our home field, hopefully," Manoogian said. "I think having the added benefit of being able to play in front of our home crowd and represent our school gives up an extra boost to kind of hopefully get it done this year."

g.keefe@theday.com