2021 MAAC Women's Soccer Championship Program

MAAC Basketball Championships that were being held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, midway through the third day of competition. This was the first time the championships were ever canceled. The last game of the season and championship had the Fairfield women’s basketball team defeat Siena 72-56 in the quarterfinals. The NCAA also cancelled the Division I 2020 Men’s and Women’s Championships and later all spring sports as college sports reacted to the health threats posed by the pandemic to its student-athletes, coaches, and fans. In 2021, the championships returned to Atlantic City as the first event hosted at the arena since the MAAC shutdown operations in 2020. The teams competed in a restricted manner that included daily PCR Covid testing, practices hosted across town at the Atlantic City Convention Center,

The MAAC Story With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principlesof 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. The MAAC was founded in 1980 by six charter members: the U.S. Military Academy, Fairfield University, Fordham University, Iona College, Manhattan College, and Saint Peter’s College. Competition followed one year later in the fall of 1981 with members competing in the sports of Men’s Cross Country and Men’s Soccer. On January 2, 1982, Army traveled to Iona for the first MAAC Men’s Basketball game and the MAAC story had begun.

and with limited attendance by friends of families who were seated in upper levels of Boardwalk Hall. In year of limited competition, the Iona College men and the Marist College women captured the championship trophies and moved on to 68 and 64 team fields hosted in Indianapolis and San Antonio within strict bubble environments. By having an excellent working relationship with various facilities, and a top reputation for hosting events, the MAAC has been able to be awarded several future NCAA Championships. Along with Siena, the MAAC was chosen to host the 2020 Men’s Basketball First & Second Rounds at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside Canisius and Niagara, the MAAC will host the 2022 Men’s Basketball First & Second Rounds at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY. In 2020 the MAAC was awarded additional future NCAA hosting opportunities including the 2023 Men’s Basketball

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. The MAAC supports 24 sports and championships during the 2020-21 academic year; in addition, the MAAC champion earns automatic qualification to the NCAA Championship in 15 sports. In addition, associate members include the University of Detroit Mercy and St. Bonaventure University in Men’s Lacrosse. La Salle University, Long Island University, St. Francis Brooklyn, Villanova University, Virginia Military Institute, and Wagner College in Water Polo. Drake University, Jacksonville University, Robert Morris University, Sacred Heart University, and Stetson University compete in Women’s Rowing. La Salle University, the University at Albany, University of Dayton, and the University of Hartford are members in Women’s Golf.

First and Second Rounds and the 2024 Women’s Basketball Regionals at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY which will be co-hosted with Siena College. The MAAC, alongside the Ivy League, was also selected to host the 2025 Women’s Rowing Championship Finals (Divisions I, II, and III) at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, NJ. In 2026, the MAAC along with Canisius College and Niagara University will host the Men’s Basketball First and Second Rounds at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY. In March 2018 the MAAC hosted the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Albany Regional with Siena College for the second time since 2015 at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY. The Albany Regional was the highest attended site out of the four regions with over 20,000 fans in attendance over the two days of competition. During the 2016-17 academic year, the MAAC hosted the NCAA Division I Cross Country Northeast Regional at Van Cortlandt Park with Iona and Manhattan, the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball First & Second Rounds at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY with Canisius and Niagara, which marked the fifth time that all three parties partnered for this same event (2004, 2007, 2010, and 2014), and the 2017 NCAA Division I, II, & III Rowing Championships with the Ivy League at Lake Mercer in West Windsor, NJ. The MAAC, Canisius, and Niagara successfully hosted the 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Second and Third Rounds at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, NY. The MAAC and Fairfield hosted the 2013 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Regional at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT. The MAAC and Rider co-hosted the 2012 NCAA Rowing Championships at Lake Mercer in West Windsor, NJ and also co-hosted the 2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. The MAAC and Rider co-hosted the 2009 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship Regional at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ, after recording the third highest attendance figure for the women’s championship with the First & Second Rounds in 2006.

On June 1, 2018, the MAAC announced that the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ was selected to host the 2020-22 MAAC Men’s & Women’s Basketball Championships. The MAAC Council of Presidents unanimously accepted the facility’s bid to host the championships at their May 30th meeting in New York City. Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall will host the MAAC Basketball Championships for the first time in history and the Championships will return to the state of New Jersey for the first time since 2003, when they were played at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton. A total of nine MAAC Men’s Basketball Championships and five Women’s Basketball Championships have been held in New Jersey, including the inaugural event in 1982 at what was the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford. In response to the growing COVID-19 pandemic, the MAAC canceled the 2020 Hercules Tires

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6 @MAACSports | #MAACSoccer| Championship Central | Championship History