Marist College has earned the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s highest honor, earning the MAAC Commissioner’s Cup for the 2007-08 academic year. It is the fourth consecutive year the Red Foxes have won the Commissioner’s Cup, and eighth time overall, tying La Salle for the highest total in conference history.
Marist captured conference tournaments in men’s and women’s swimming and diving, women’s basketball, men’s and women’s crew, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s lacrosse and water polo in the 2007-08 season. The Red Foxes earned a share of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League title as well.
This is the second consecutive time Marist has won four Commissioner’s Cups in a row, as the Red Foxes also prevailed every year from 1999-2002. Marist has now won the overall title eight times in the last 10 years.
“We’ve proven once again that both academic and athletic excellence can go hand in hand,” Marist College President Dr. Dennis J. Murray said. “This is a significant accomplishment for our athletes, coaches and our athletic administration. We all take great pride in what they’ve been able to do. All the Marist students have to complete a rigorous curriculum, which makes this accomplishment all the more significant.”
Loyola College was awarded the men’s cup for the first time in school history, while the Red Foxes won their fifth women’s cup.
The MAAC Commissioner’s Cup is awarded annually as a symbol of overall excellence in athletics in the 24 championship athletic events conducted within the MAAC. Each institution is scored in all championships that it fields a varsity team. However, only the scores from the men’s and women’s basketball participation, plus the other top six men’s and other top six women’s championships shall be used to determine an institution’s total points.
Marist finished the overall race with a total of 138.5 points, 30.5 points ahead of runner-up Fairfield University. On the men’s side, Loyola captured the league crown with 55.5 points, just one point more than second-place Marist. The Red Foxes finished in the top spot in the women’s cup race by compiling 84 points, 17 points ahead of Fairfield.
“Congratulations go out to the athletic department, coaching staffs and most importantly the student-athletes at Marist College and Loyola College for their outstanding efforts that culminated in the capturing of the MAAC Commissioner’s Cups for the schools,” Richard J. Ensor, commissioner of the MAAC, said.
The rest of the field finished as follows: Fairfield (108), Loyola (107), Iona College (92), Siena College (87), Canisius College (86.5), Manhattan College and Niagara University (83), Rider University (80.5) and Saint Peter’s College (61).
In the men’s standings, Marist finished second with 54.5 points, followed by Rider (52.5), Siena (44), Niagara (41.5), Canisius and Fairfield (41), Manhattan (40.5), Iona (39) and Saint Peter’s (33).
On the women’s side, Fairfield was second with 67 points, followed by Iona (53), Loyola (51.5), Canisius (45.5), Siena (43), Manhattan (42.5), Niagara (41.5), Rider and Saint Peter’s (28).
Men’s soccer releases 2008 schedule
The Marist men’s soccer program released its 2008 schedule last week. The Red Foxes will open the season on Aug. 30 at Hartford and will host Army on Sept. 6 in their first home contest of the season. They will open the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference portion of the schedule on Oct. 10, at home, versus the Manhattan Jaspers.
Following their match with Hartford, the Red Foxes will visit Delaware, and then host Army in the Tenney Stadium opener. They will then take five days off before a match with Pac-10 foe Oregon State at Tenney Stadium on Sept. 12.
Marist will travel to New Britain, Conn. for a contest with “Sweet 16” participant Central Connecticut on Sept. 17 before heading home for three more non-conference matches (Fordham, Stony Brook, and Albany).
“The Pac-10 is a top-three conference in the country year in and year out, and the America East was ranked seventh in the RPI last season,” said Marist Head Coach Matt Viggiano. “Playing teams from conferences like these will provide us great competition before our conference season begins.”
The Red Foxes will visit perennial A-10 power Richmond on Oct. 4 in their final tune-up before the grind that is the MAAC season begins. They will host Manhattan in their conference opener on Oct. 10 and at-large NCAA Tournament participant Saint Peter’s on Oct. 12.
The following weekend they will visit Loyola and Rider. Loyola was also in the NCAA Tournament last season after winning the MAAC Tournament at Disney’s Wide World of Sports.
“The conference as a whole has raised the bar, and this is demonstrated in the at-large bid the conference received last season,” said Viggiano. “The level play has been improved from top to bottom, and it truly is an accomplishment to make the ‘final four’ at the end of the season.”
Marist will return home for tilts with Canisius and Niagara the following weekend, before ending the regular season with road contests with Siena (Nov. 1), Fairfield (Nov. 7) and Iona (Nov. 9)
The Red Foxes will have nine home games in total with at least six being under the Tenney Stadium lights, and they will face five teams that were in the RPI’s Top 50 a season ago.
“It’s a perfectly balanced schedule, and the campus and local community has a great chance to come out and see a team that will play an exciting brand of soccer,” said Viggiano. “We play some very strong teams this season and it’s going to be exciting.”
Marist will host the MAAC Tournament from Nov. 14-16. The top four teams in the conference will compete in the tournament.
Check GoRedFoxes.com for updates on the upcoming 2008 men’s soccer season.