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Conference Spotlight: (Return of the) MAAC

Attention Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference passengers: As we begin our descent to College Crosse Conference Spotlight City, please turn off all electronic devices until we are safely on the ground. Thank you!

By Eri_Barrister
Watch my flow!!
Watch my flow!!
Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

Conference Spotlight: Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

Current League Standings:

MAAC
TEAM OVERALL RECORD CONFERENCE RECORD WINS LOSSES MEDIA POLL RANK (3/16)
Marist 4-2 1-0 Air Force, Binghamton, High Point, Monmouth Stony Brook, Penn State
Siena 4-3 1-0 Massachusetts-Lowell, Mercer, St. John's, Quinnipiac Syracuse, Hobart, Robert Morris
Canisius 1-6 1-0 Manhattan Boston, Furman, Air Force, Michigan, Hobart, Albany
Detroit 4-3 0-0 Ohio State, Robert Morris, Bellarmine, Mercer Michigan, Marquette, Air Force
Monmouth 3-3 0-1 Rutgers, Wagner, NJIT UMBC, St. Joseph's, Marist
Quinnipiac 1-5 0-1 NJIT Brown, Harvard, Hartford, Massachusetts, Siena
Manhattan 0-8 0-1 Reverse Survivor Island inhabitant. Stony Brook, Princeton, Fairfield, Hofstra, Hartford, North Carolina, Canisius, Delaware

All rankings based off 3/16 Media Poll.

Obligatory link to Return of the MAAC Mack by Mark Morrison. Just try and get that song out of your head the rest of the day while you watch March Madness at work work.

Wha' Happened?:

  • Siena: After losing their first two games (Syracuse and Hobart) by a combined score of 33-15, the Saints have been on a roll winning four of their last five games. John Svec's defense has been on point recently, yielding double digit goals only once in their last five games. As the MAAC's defending regular season and conference tournament champion, the Saints are looking to make it to The Big Barbecue in back-to-back seasons and for the third time in the last five years.
  • Marist: After a disappointing 6-9 season last year (suffering four losses by 2 goals or less), Marist is back on track in 2015. At 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the MAAC, the Red Foxes are co-leaders in the MAAC and own the conference's best overall record.
  • Monmouth: With wins over Rutgers, Wagner, and NJIT, the Hawks are the KINGS of the Garden State swept their scheduled New Jersey opponents. You want a burgeoning lacrosse powerhouse by the beach shore? Go holler at Monmouth. Additionally, contact, @RyanMcD29 for any Monmouth t-shirt questions.
Upcoming Games of Earth-Shattering Importance:
  • Marist at Brown (March 24), Detroit at Marist (April 4), and Siena at Marist (April 25): Marist's game against Brown on the 24th will be a major test. Marist, however, has a unique edge in their favor as the Red Foxes will be the Bears' third opponent in a week. If Marist can put Detroit and Siena away on April 4th and 25th, respectively, Marist will be in a great position for the MAAC Tournament's top seed at the end of the year.
  • Detroit at Siena (April 18), Albany at Siena (April 21), and Siena at Marist (April 25): No one will be able to say that the Saints eased off the gas in their final games of the season. Siena closes out their 2015 regular season with Detroit, Albany, and Marist, all within a week of each other. But as Mobb Deep used to say, "Ain't no such things as halfway MAAC regular season champions."
  • Detroit at Marist (April 4), Monmouth at Detroit (April 11), and Detroit at Siena (April 18): In a perfect world, the Titans play "Welcome to Detroit" by Trick Trick featuring Eminem (at least twice) IMMEDIATELY after the National Anthem. But I digress. Marist, Monmouth, and Siena are the only opponents left on Detroit's schedule with a winning record. If the Titans can handle their business against these three, Detroit will have its first winning record ever and all but a guaranteed spot in the MAAC Tournament at the end of April.
"That Guy" Watch:
  • Jason Weber (Detroit): I looked for a picture of Weber on Detroit's website, but all I found was a brick wall with the words "Mr. Steal Your Goal" spray-painted on it. The Whitby, Ontario sophomore blipped on the national radar after his amazing performance against Mercer on March 4th, wherein Weber made 28 saves. While the Mercer game was a career best, Weber has been something else this year, stopping at least 14 shots in all but one of his games. Given the fact that three of Detroit's victories were by three goals or less, one can make a compelling case that Weber has been Detroit's most valuable player this year.
  • Joseph Radin (Marist): The Long Beach, New York junior has been all about that action ever since he stepped on campus. Radin was a 2014 All-MAAC first team member and the MAAC Rookie of the Year in 2013. The attackman dropped a half-dozen goals against Penn State in a 9-8 loss to the Nittany Lions back on March 10th and leads the team in goals with 14 tallies. Radin is also tied for the team lead in points with 17. A few more six-goal games -- no pressure! -- and Radin might just do something he's never done in his Marist career: Take his show to the big tournament in May.
NCAA Tournament Prognosis:
  • League: The ELITE #TeamNortheast biased journalist down to earth, objective, contributing blogger in me wants to say that the MAAC is a multi-bid conference, but even my (JERSEY!!) eyes can't see any way the conference gets more than one team to The Big Barbecue at the end of the year. Which is a shame, as the MAAC, much like the Southern Conference, has a few teams that can ball and in the right circumstances could pose a difficult early round opponent for many tournament teams.
  • Marist, Siena, Detroit: Again, much like the Southern Conference, I think the MAAC is going to be a three-team race, with one of these three winning the conference's automatic bid.
  • Hit it, Mark:
    maac gif

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