Edison, N.J. (August 18, 2021) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced today that Monmouth University has been selected as the 2021 women’s soccer preseason favorite, as voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches.
The Hawks made their fifth-straight MAAC Championship game this spring but fell to Siena in penalty kicks 4-2. Monmouth led the MAAC in shots (177), shots on goal (84) corners (106), goals allowed (5), and goals allowed per game (0.5). The Hawks squad finished the season 5-1-3 overall. This is the eighth-straight season Monmouth has been selected as the MAAC preseason favorite. They also boast three players on the All-MAAC Team, Lauren Karabin, Jill Conklin, and Sarina Jones.
Quinnipiac’s Rebecca Cooke was selected as the 2021 Preseason Player of the Year. The native of Dublin, Ireland is headed into her sophomore season and was selected at the 2020-21 MAAC Rookie of the Year. She started all seven games for the Bobcats last season leading the team in points (10), goals (4), shots (26), shots on goal (11), and was tied for the team lead in assists with two. Last season, Cooke was also named to the All-MAAC Team, as the only first year, and was named to the New England Soccer Journal’s Best XI and was named their Rookie of the Year. Cooke joins her Bobcat teammate Selena Salas on the 2021 Preseason All-MAAC Team.
Quinnipiac University and Siena College were ranked second and third by the league’s coaches with 103 and 95 points respectively. The two schools did not meet in the 2020-21 season, but the two finished first and second in the regular season standings as the Saints went 4-0-1 to take home the regular season championship and the Bobcats went 4-1-1. Siena had two selections to the Preseason All-MAAC Team as Emily McNelis and the 2020-21 Goalkeeper of the Year, Leslie Adams, were selected to the team.
Fairfield University finished fourth in the preseason poll with 90 points and Rider University placed fifth with 80. The Stags received one first-place vote after finishing the 2020-21 regular season campaign 2-2-1, and earned the seventh-seed in the MAAC tournament. The Broncs went 3-1-3 in the regular season and earned the fourth-seed in the MAAC Championships before they fell to the eventual champions, the Siena Saints, in the semifinals by a score of 2-1. Makenzie Rodrigues and Niamh Cashin, of Rider, earned spots on the Preseason All-MAAC Team with Rodrigues being the only unanimous selection to the team.
Manhattan College finished sixth in the poll with 62 points. The Jaspers will be looking to make it back to the championship for the first time since 2017 and are still in search of their first MAAC Championship.
Rounding out the 2021 MAAC Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll was Niagara University (53), Marist College (45), Canisius College (39), Iona College (32), and Saint Peter’s University (17).
The 2021 MAAC Women’s Soccer Championship will feature the top eight teams this season with quarterfinal’s action starting on Sunday, October 31. The semifinals will take place on Thursday, November 4 and the Championship Game is scheduled to take place on Sunday, November 7. All games will be hosted by the higher seed.
2021 MAAC PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
|
Institution |
Points (First Place Votes) |
| 1 |
Monmouth |
110 (5) |
| 2 |
Quinnipiac |
103 (2) |
| 3 |
Siena |
95 (3) |
| 4 |
Fairfield |
90 (1) |
| 5 |
Rider |
80 |
| 6 |
Manhattan |
62 |
| 7 |
Niagara |
53 |
| 8 |
Marist |
45 |
| 9 |
Canisius |
39 |
| 10 |
Iona |
32 |
| 11 |
Saint Peter’s |
17 |
2021 PRESEASON ALL-MAAC TEAM
| Player |
Position |
Institution |
| Rebecca Cooke |
Forward |
Quinnipiac |
| Lauren Karabin |
Forward |
Monmouth |
| Makenzie Rodrigues* |
Forward |
Rider |
| Jill Conklin |
Midfield |
Monmouth |
| Emily McNelis |
Midfield |
Quinnipiac |
| Selena Salas |
Midfield |
Quinnipiac |
| Niamh Cashin |
Back |
Quinnipiac |
| Sarina Jones |
Back |
Monmouth |
| Brianna Montinard |
Back |
Siena |
| Leslie Adams |
Goalkeeper |
Siena |
* = Unanimous selection
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 41st year of competition during the 2021-22 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.