2011 MAAC Men's Soccer Championship Begins Thursday
MAAC Sports
Lake Buena Vista, FL - The 2011 MAAC Men's Soccer Championship begins Thursday, Nov. 3 at ESPN Wide World of Sports at the Walt Disney World Resorts in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. All 10 teams will vie for conference title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship.
Five of the nine games will be broadcast live on ESPN3, including two quarterfinal contests, both semifinal match-ups, and the championship game.
#7 Saint Peter's and #10 Siena will begin play at 11 a.m. on Thursday. Saint Peter's topped the Saints, 2-1, on Oct. 23 in Jersey City. The winner will meet #2 Iona, currently ranked 24th in the nation, in a quarterfinal contest on Friday live on ESPN3. Siena is one of just three teams to beat the Gaels this season, the others being top-seeded Fairfield and then-No. 14 St. John's. Iona defeated Saint Peter's, 3-1, last Friday in New Rochelle.
The second first round game on Thursday features #8 Canisius against #9 Rider at 2 p.m. The Griffs got an overtime winner from Gavin Falconer to defeat Rider, 2-1, two weeks ago. The winner will appear live on ESPN3 against MAAC regular season champions Fairfield, who completed the league season with 25 points after going 8-0-1. The Stags beat both Canisius and Rider in overtime games earlier this season.
Friday's first quarterfinal pits #3 Loyola against #6 Manhattan at 11 a.m. The Greyhounds ran out 3-0 winners after putting in a complete performance against the Jaspers in Riverdale. Manhattan is this season's surprise team. After beginning the league campaign with three losses, Manhattan snapped its 43-game winless streak and proceeded to take 10 points from its next four games en route to the #6 seed.
At 1:30 p.m., #4 Niagara will face #5 Marist. The Purple Eagles defeated Marist, 1-0, in the first game of the league season. The Red Foxes enter the tournament having won three of their last four games.
ESPN3 will provide live cut-ins of the Loyola-Manhattan and Niagara-Marist quarterfinal games during the live broadcasts of the other quarterfinal contests.
Live stats will be available for all nine games throught MAACSports.com. Updates will also be available on facebook.com/MAACSports and on Twitter @MAACSports. Use hashtag #maacsoccer to join the conversation.