MAAC Women's Soccer Championship Preview
2018 MAAC Women's Soccer Conference Notes
EDISON, NJ – The
2018 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Women’s Soccer Championship takes place over a three-day event at four different MAAC institutional locations in a new format this year, October 28-November 4. The six-team championship will take place over three days with all games being hosted by the higher seeds.
First-round games will take place on Sunday, October 28 and will be hosted by No. 3 Siena and No. 4 Niagara. The semifinal games are hosted by the No. 1 Monmouth and No. 2 Marist on Thursday, November 1 and the championship game on Sunday, November 4 will be hosted by the highest remaining seed.
Broadcast Schedule:
First Round games between No. 4 Niagara and No. 5 Rider, and No. 3 Siena and No. 6 Quinnipiac will be featured on
MAAC.TV. Semifinal action for No. 2 Marist will also be on MAAC.TV while Monmouth is TBD. The Championship game is TBD.
Tickets:
Niagara vs Rider
Siena vs Quinnipiac
Monmouth vs TBD
Marist vs TBD
First Round Games:
The Purple Eagles will host the Broncs for a second time this season, on Sunday, October 28 at 12 p.m. Niagara beat Rider, 2-1 in their September 22 matchup. Niagara ended its season with a victory over Fairfield, 2-0. Rider has scored two goals in each of its past three contests going 1-0-2 including draws in the last two games.
The Bobcats finished its regular season with two ties and clinched once Saint Peter’s and Rider tied 2-2 Wednesday. Siena finished as one of the hottest teams in the MAAC by closing out the season winning six-of-seven. Siena and Quinnipiac opened up league play this season in Loudonville, NY and the match ended in a 0-0 draw.
The Wait:
Marist and Monmouth will host November 1 the winners of the first-round games. Monmouth has had a remarkable run winning its last nine games, the longest streak since 1996 (10). The Hawks have outscored opponents 31-2 during this stretch. Monmouth has reached nine league wins for the fifth consecutive year and are 7-1-1 at Hesse Field this season.
Marist finished with its best league record (7-2-1) since 2012 after defeating Iona, 1-0. The Red Foxes finished league play 3-1-1 to claim the second seed. Marist is 5-2 at Tenney Stadium and have three shutouts at home.
Players to Watch:
Alexa Svesson, Marist: Svesson leads the MAAC with eight assists averaging .444 per game. The junior defender and midfield set a career high in assists raising her career total to 17.
Amanda Knaub, Monmouth: Knaub has allowed a league-best six goals and .345 goal average. Knaub ranks sixth in the NCAA in goals against average and tied for ninth in shutouts with a league-best nine. The senior goalkeeper leads the MAAC with .900 save percentage.
Annie Ibey, Niagara: The freshman midfielder has a team-high eight goals. Ibey led the league with five game-winning goals.
Kelsey Goldring, Quinnipiac: Leads the Bobcats with five goals and 12 points on the season. The redshirt sophomore was the 2017 MAAC Rookie of the Year.
Kourtney Cunningham, Rider: The senior forward is tied for third in the league with 19 points, and tied for second in goals with eight. Cunningham also has three assists.
Taylor Dorado, Siena: The junior goalkeeper has four shutouts in her last five games and is second in the MAAC with 96 saves. Dorado has allowed three goals in the last eight league games.
Non-Conference Highlights:
Monmouth played a tough non-conference schedule featuring matches at No. 20 NC State (L, 0-1 2OT) and Rutgers (W, 2-1). The Hawks went a league best 5-2-1 in non-conference play. Marist’s non-conference wins came against Vermont (2-0) and Rhode Island (2-1). Siena’s non-league play featured Villanova (L, 1-2 OT), UMass (W, 2-1), and Albany (L, 0-3).
Niagara’s non-league play featured a trip to the sunshine state, playing Florida Atlantic (L, 2-3) and Florida Gulf Coast (L, 0-3). The Purple Eagles had four wins and three shutouts out of league. Rider kept in state playing No. 23 Princeton (L, 0-2) and Quinnipiac played at Boston College (L, 2-4) to start the season. The Broncs started the season 2-0-1 in three overtime games and the Bobcats had three non-league wins against Bryant (3-0), NJIT (3-1), and UMass Lowell (4-3 2OT).
MAAC Championship History:
Monmouth is searching for its third-straight MAAC Championship after defeating Manhattan in 2017 and Quinnipiac in 2016. In both games, the Hawks scored five goals. The last team to make it to three-straight MAAC Championships is Loyola from 2007-09 claiming two titles in that span.
Seed-by-Seed: Since 2007, the No. 1 seed has claimed the MAAC Women’s Soccer Championship five times, the most of any seed over the past 10 years. The No. 3 seed captured the next most championships over the 10-year span with three.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 38
th year of competition during the 2018-19 academic year. Current Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.