2015 Women's Lacrosse Championship Program

@MAACSPORTS /MAACSPORTS

2015 MAAC WOMEN’S LACROSSE

Bank Arena, and the Sun National Bank Center.

In the spring of 2014, the MAAC expanded the championship field to six teams in men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, women’s lacrosse, softball, and baseball. Additionally, the MAAC membership agreed that the highest seeded team should generally host the MAAC championship. MAAC Associate Sports In 2002, the MAAC added the MAAC Women’s Water Polo League. The league is currently made up of three MAAC schools - Iona, Marist and Siena - as well as four associate members, St. Francis (N.Y.), Villanova, Virginia Military Institute and Wagner. Sacred Heart began participation in MAAC Women’s Rowing in the spring of 2008. Drake University joined the league for the 2010 MAAC Championship, while Robert Morris began competition in the spring of 2011. In 2012 Jacksonville University brought its men’s and women’s teams into MAAC Rowing, and Stetson University joined the league in 2014. MAAC women’s golf competition is comprised of five member schools – Fairfield, Monmouth, Niagara, Quinnipiac and Siena – and three associate members – the University at Albany, the University of Dayton, and the University of Hartford. For the first time in league history, an associate member was added in men’s swimming & diving when Bryant University joined the league in the summer of 2012. InApril of 2013 the MAAC added field hockey as a sponsored sport with competition beginning in the fall of the 2013-14 academic year between four member institutions – Monmouth University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University and Siena College. In June of 2013 the MAAC added associate members to the Field Hockey League - Bryant University and Sacred Heart University, bringing the MAAC to six teams for 2014, with Fairfield University set to join the league starting in the 2015-16 academic year. In the winter of 2015, LIU Brooklyn joined the league and is set to begin competition in the fall of 2015-16. Academics and Athletics The MAAC prides itself on the accomplishments of its student- athletes in the classroom, as well as on the field. Mary Beth Riley, a 1991 graduate of Canisius, was the first recipient of the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. In the fall of 1998, Erin Whalen, a member of the Iona women’s rowing team, was awarded one of the nation’s 32 Rhodes Scholarships for academic achievement and civic leadership. In 2014 the NCAA announced that 25 MAAC women’s sports and 13 men’s sports achieved a perfect APR score of 1,000. MAAC women’s basketball posted a conference wide APR of 992, 19 points higher than the national average of 973. The MAAC was ranked in the top quartile of the Division I members in terms of overall graduation rates. First-class facilities are the rule with MAAC schools, as teams regularly play in top-notch arenas, such as Madison Square Garden, the Barclays Center, the MassMutual Center, the IZOD Center, First Niagara Center, Times Union Center, the Webster

This year, the MAAC took the 2014 Volleyball Championship to Orlando, Florida, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, where Siena College captured its ninth title in program history. The 2015 MAAC Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships will be held at Disney’s Magnolia Golf Course. In the past several years, a number of the MAAC schools have also enjoyed success in NCAA Championships. MAAC schools have played in a total of 83 NIT games and 82 NCAA games. In 2014, Siena College claimed the league’s first basketball postseason title in its history by winning the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) title. In 2013, the MAAC had a record six men basketball programs participate in postseason play- Iona (NCAA Championship), Niagara (NIT), Canisius, Fairfield, Loyola, and Rider (CIT). Canisius and Loyola both advanced to theQuarterfinal round, while Rider reached the second round. In 2012, the MAAC had two teams advance to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship for the first time in 16 years, with Loyola earning the league’s automatic bid and Iona garnering an at-large bid. In 2007, the Marist women’s basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling to the eventual National Champion, the University of Tennessee. The Red Foxes have recorded an additional five NCAA wins since their run in 2007. The MAAC has also been a leader in the forefront of technology, expanding the notoriety of the league into cyberspace. In 2007, the league reached an agreement with JumpTV, Inc., now NeuLion, Inc., to design and host the MAAC web page. MAACSports.com has been a great success, providing fans with up-to-date contest results, live and on-demand video and an online merchandise store. The MAAC, in conjunction with NeuLion, launched an iPhone app in February 2011, followed by Android and iPad apps that were released during the 2011-12 academic year. In September 2011, the conference announced the launch of MAAC.TV, the league’s first broadband network. Eight schools - Canisius, Fairfield, Iona, Manhattan, Marist, Monmouth, Rider, and Saint Peter’s - are currently part of the network, which broadcast over 400 live events in 2013-14. In May 2014, the MAAC continued to grow its partnership with ESPN3 announcing the launch of the MAAC Branded ESPN3 Channel. All MAAC and school produced ESPN3 broadcasts will be viewable as live or archived contents for all MAAC sports. The new initiative increases the MAAC’s long-term partnership with ESPN and is concurrent with the development of school based production facilities on many of the conference’s member campuses. The MAAC President for the 2014-2015 academic year is John J. Hurley, the President of Canisius College. The Vice-President is Brennan O’Donnell, the President of Manhattan College. Commissioner Rich Ensor serves as the league’s Secretary/ Treasurer. Joe Quinlan, Director of Athletics at Saint Peter’s University, will chair the Committee on Athletic Administration, and Jamie Fogarty, Senior Associate Athletic Director/SWA at Iona College will serve as Vice Chair.

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