Rider to Face No. 16 Akron in First Round of NCAA Championship
EDISON, NJ – The 2018 MAAC Men’s Soccer Champions, Rider University (10-9-1), will travel to No. 16 Akron (10-6-2) for a first-round matchup in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship.
It is the third time in four seasons and fifth time overall that the Broncs will be in the NCAA Championship.
The Zips, out of the Mid-American Conference, and the Broncs will meet on Thursday, November 15 at 7 p.m. in a matchup of conference champions.
Rider won the MAAC Championship as the fifth seed on Sunday with a 1-0 win over second-seeded Quinnipiac University. Rider won three games in the MAAC Championship—all on the road—to win the title. The fifth-seeded Broncs are the lowest seed to win the MAAC Championship since Fairfield University did so as a six seed in 2014.
The 16th-ranked Zips finished last season ranked third after making the NCAA College Cup. Like the Broncs, the Zips won three games in their league’s championship to earn the automatic bid. One of those wins came against No. 12 West Virginia in the semifinals. The Zips are winners of four straight heading into the NCAA Championship.
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 38th 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.