2019 MAAC Women’s Soccer Championship Preview

11/1/2019 2:00:00 PM

EDISON, N.J. (Nov. 1, 2019) – The 2019 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Women’s Soccer Championship kicks off this Sunday, Nov. 3 with two first round games. No. 4 Marist College (8-9-1, 5-4-1 MAAC) welcomes No. 5 Quinnipiac University (9-7-1, 5-4-1) for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff in Poughkeepsie, New York, while No. 6 Niagara University (8-7-2, 4-5-1) travels to Lawrenceville, New Jersey to take on No. 3 Rider University (8-5-4, 5-3-2) at 4:00 p.m.

The top seeded Monmouth University Hawks (12-2-2, 10-0) and the second seeded Fairfield University Stags (10-5-3, 7-2-1) receive a first round bye and will play Thursday, Nov. 7. The Stags will host the higher advancing seed from the first round in Fairfield, Connecticut at 5:00 p.m. The Hawks will host the lower advancing seed from the first round with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in West Long Branch, New Jersey.

All championship games will be available on the ESPN family of networks.

Sunday’s first round game between No. 4 Marist and No. 5 Quinnipiac will be the first time the two conference opponents meet in postseason play. The two teams finished with identical MAAC records at 5-4-1. The difference maker proved to come on Oct. 2, when the Red Foxes took down the Bobcats 1-0 in Poughkeepsie. The win gave Marist the advantage in the final season standings, allowing the Red Foxes the opportunity to claim home field in the first round. Jillian Colucci scored the lone goal in the game in the 55^th minute of action. The goal was the only one of the junior’s season, proving to be one of the most important of the year for the Red Foxes. Marist will look to claim the school’s second MAAC title, the first dating back to 2011, while Quinnipiac will look to claim the school’s first MAAC title since entering the conference in 2013.

No. 3 Rider and No. 6 Niagara also last met on Oct. 2 of this season. Rider posted a convincing 5-0 victory on its home field, with five different Broncs finding the back of the net and Carmen Carbonell posting a four save shutout. This matchup is a rematch of the first round of the 2018 Women’s Soccer Championship, where Niagara eliminated Rider 2-1. Annie Ibey scored both goals for the Purple Eagles in the first half, propelling her squad to the semifinals. Ibey will look to find the back of the net again, as she currently leads the MAAC with 3.53 shots per game. Rider’s Carbonell, who averages 5.47 saves per game, will look to subdue the Niagara offense and advance the Broncs to the semifinals.

The Monmouth Hawks are the favorite to win this year’s MAAC Championship after winning the previous three titles and becoming the first team in MAAC history to finish 10-0 in conference play. The Hawks were preseason favorites, capping the regular season off with a 2-0 win over Fairfield, the No. 2 seed, in what could be a possible Championship Game preview. Senior Lexi Palladino led the Hawks through the regular season with 18 points on eight goals and two assists. Preseason Player of the Year Madie Gibson followed closely with 17 points on six goals and five assists. Monmouth is also the first team in MAAC history to win seven consecutive regular season titles.

The Fairfield Stags sit in second place all-time with 10 MAAC Women’s Soccer Championship titles, but haven’t claimed the top spot since 2008. The second ranked Stags haven’t been ranked as high since the 2014 MAAC Championship, where the team also came in as the No. 2 seed. This year’s bunch is led by Stephanie Tsangaris, who has posted 17 points on seven goals and three assists. Gabby Diodati trials with 16 points on four goals and eight assists, followed by Liz Dumas and Nicole Strykek with 15 points each. Strykek leads the MAAC in points per game, averaging 1.15 in her 13 games played.

Tickets for all games can be purchased by visiting MAAC.Ticketleap.com or by visiting MAACSports.com/WSOC.

Keep up with all MAAC soccer action by following @MAACSports on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and by searching #MAACSoccer. For championship information, visit MAACSports.com/WSOC.

2019 MAAC Women’s Soccer Championship Schedule
Round	Game	Match-up	Date	Time	Network
First Round	Game 1	No. 4 Marist vs No. 5 Quinnipiac	Nov. 3	1:00 PM	ESPN+
First Round	Game 2	No. 3 Rider vs No. 6 Niagara	Nov. 3	4:00 PM	ESPN+
Semifinal	Game 3	No. 1 Monmouth vs Lower Adv. Seed	Nov. 7	5:00 PM	ESPN+
Semifinal	Game 4	No. 2 Fairfield vs Higher Adv. Seed	Nov. 7	7:00 PM	ESPN+
Final	Game 5	Game 3 Winner vs Game 4 Winner	Nov. 10	TBA	ESPN3/ESPN+

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 39^th year of competition during the 2019-20 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.