Edison, N.J. (August 24, 2021) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced today that Quinnipiac University has been selected as the 2021 men’s soccer preseason favorite, as voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches.
Quinnipiac’s Head Coach Eric Da Costa led last year’s Bobcats to a regular season title and to the MAAC Championship tournament for the eighth-straight season. The Bobcats made their fourth MAAC Championship game appearance since 2013 this past spring, but fell to Monmouth 1-0. Last season Quinnipiac was tied for the league lead in goals per game with 2.00, led the league in points per game (5.78), assists per game (1.778), and was ranked second in shots per game (13.44), goals (18), and was tied for second in goals allowed per game (1.00). The Bobcats also boast six preseason All-MAAC selections and have the Preseason Player of the Year.
Quinnipiac’s Brage Aasen was selected as the 2021 Preseason Player of the Year. The native of Frogner, Norway is headed into his third season with the Bobcats. Last spring Aasen led the league in game-winning goals (3), tied for the league lead in points (14), tied for second in goals (5), second in assists (4), third in points per game (1.56), and third in shots (25). Aasen was a key component in the Bobcats offense starting all nine games and leading the team in points, goals, assists, and shots. His effort landed him on the All-MAAC Team and he was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-East Region Second Team.
Fairfield University and Monmouth University were tied for second both receiving 96 points, however the Hawks received three first-place votes to the Stag’s one. The two schools met during the spring of last year as Fairfield defeated Monmouth 2-1. Monmouth ended the season on top though, as they went into the MAAC Championship Tournament as the sixth seed and proceeded to defeat the top three seeds to take home the MAAC Championship. The Hawks went on to win their first round game in the NCAA Men’s Division I Championship when they took down Bowling Green 2-1. After falling to Quinnipiac in the semifinals this past spring, Fairfield will be looking to take home their sixth MAAC Championship this season and break their tie with Rider University for the most championships among active members. The Hawks have four players named to the Preseason All-MAAC Team and the Stags have one.
Rider University finished fourth in the preseason poll with 89 points and Marist College placed fifth with 71. The Broncs were the second seed in the MAAC Championship Tournament last season and fell to the eventual champions, Monmouth, in the semifinal round. Rider will be looking to return to past form when they made four straight MAAC Championship games from 2015-18 winning the title in three of those years. Francisco Gomez Olano of the Broncs was named to the Preseason All-MAAC Team. The Red Foxes will be in search of their fourth MAAC Championship and first since 2004 and 2005 when the team won back-to-back championships. Marist was unable to compete last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Iona College was ranked sixth in the poll with 59 points. The 2019 MAAC Champion Gaels will be looking to claim their second MAAC Championship after finishing last season 2-4-1 after they fell in the first round of the MAAC Championship tournament to the Broncs.
Rounding out the 2021 MAAC Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll is Niagara University (55), Saint Peter’s University (48), Manhattan College (46), Siena College (33), and Canisius College (18).
The 2021 MAAC Men’s Soccer Championship will feature the top eight teams this season with quarterfinal’s action starting on Sunday, November 7. The semifinals will take place on Thursday, November 11 and the Championship Game is scheduled to take place on Sunday, November 14. All games will be hosted by the higher seed.
2021 MAAC PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
|
Institution |
Points (First Place Votes) |
| 1 |
Quinnipiac |
115 (7) |
| 2 |
Fairfield |
96 (1) |
| 2 |
Monmouth |
96 (3) |
| 4 |
Rider |
89 |
| 5 |
Marist |
71 |
| 6 |
Iona |
59 |
| 7 |
Niaraga |
55 |
| 8 |
Saint Peter's |
48 |
| 9 |
Manhattan |
46 |
| 10 |
Siena |
33 |
| 11 |
Canisius |
18 |
2021 PRESEASON ALL-MAAC TEAM
| Player |
Position |
Institution |
| Brage Assen |
Forward |
Quinnipiac |
| Julian Gomez |
Forward |
Monmouth |
| Tomas Svecula |
Forward |
Quinnipiac |
| Ben Zakowski |
Forward |
Monmouth |
| Luke McBeth |
Midfield |
Monmouth |
| Paulo Soares |
Midfield |
Quinnipiac |
| Francisco Gomez Olano |
Midfield |
Rider |
| George Akampeke |
Back |
Monmouth |
| Luke Allen |
Back |
Quinnipiac |
| Cormac Pike |
Back |
Fairfield |
| Henry Weigand |
Back |
Quinnipiac |
| Jared Mazzola |
Goalkeeper |
Quinnipiac |
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 41st year of competition during the 2021-22 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.