Two weekends ago, both the men’s and women’s Monmouth soccer teams clinched the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season title, while also claiming the top seed for the upcoming MAAC championships. As a result, both teams have also been granted a first round bye in the tournament.
“It is great to get a first round bye,” said Head Coach Robert McCourt, who has led the Hawks to their ninth conference regular season title whilst under his wing. “It helps with seeding for tournament games and gives your team extra rest as you have one less game to play.”
“The first round bye can be a huge advantage, if you go about it in the right way,” said Krissy Turner, the head coach of the women’s soccer team. “Everyone would think that it’s [having the first round bye] just a huge positive, but it’s hard to keep the players focused when you have such a long break.”
The Monmouth men’s soccer team finished the regular season up on Saturday, as they shared the points with Marist College on the road at Tenney Stadium in Poughkeepsie, New York, via a 2-2 draw. The Hawks finished the season with an 11-3-4 (7-0-3 MAAC) record and as the No. 22 ranked team in the country.
However, McCourt said, “National rankings are well deserved but it is something we never speak about. We take each game one game at a time and try not to let anything outside distract us.”
The women’s team finished with a record of 13-2-2 (9-1-0 MAAC) after defeating Niagara by a score of two goals to nil in their final regular season match two weekends ago. The squad clinched it’s third straight MAAC regular season title with the win.
The MAAC championships are a completely different animal in comparison to the regular season, though. The knockout-style tournament is a do or die type scenario. It provides both heartbreak and triumph. You win, and you’re in. You lose, and you’re out. You have one chance to move on, and that’s it.
“In a tournament format, the regular season really goes out the window,” said Turner, who has guided the Monmouth women’s soccer program to its ninth conference regular season crown. “Anything can happen and it’s just about getting the result and moving onto the next game, because the only thing you’re guaranteed is one more game. When you go into the regular season, you know you have seventeen games. So, you certainly take it one game at a time as far as an approach, but knowing that it’s just a one game season, there’s no second chances.”
The nature of the MAAC championships does not seem to change the way in which both of Monmouth’s soccer teams will approach their games, though.
“Our game preparation is much the same as always. However, we do practice penalty kicks and late game situations we may encounter in knockout games,” said McCourt.
“Our approach would be the same. Maybe we spend a little bit more time on restarts or free kicks, but really everything is the same,” said Turner. “I think one of the things that is very important is not worrying completely about the other team but really worrying about what we can control, which is ourselves. Certainly if we come out and we execute the way that we have all season long, then I think that gives us a good chance to be successful.”
The Monmouth University men’s soccer team will face the winner of Saint Peter’s University versus Manhattan College, a match that will take place tomorrow at 2 p.m. The Hawks will play the winner of that game in the quarter-finals of the tournament on Friday at 2:15 p.m. at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Monmouth’s game will be televised on ESPN 3.
The women’s soccer team will be squaring up with No. 6 seed Siena in the semi-finals of the MAAC championships on Friday at 5 p.m. at Hesse Field on The Great Lawn. “As far as key players, I would say Erica Murphy is our leading scorer, Alexis McTamney is a very dynamic forward who makes a lot of things happen for us,” said Turner, who focused on her quartet of attackers that have provided goals time and time again throughout the season. “Rachael Ivanicki is second on the team in goals, and Rachelle Ross is the fourth forward who comes in as a reserve.”
Turner said, “You’re not trying to win a regular season title, you’re just trying to win one game, and if you win one, then you get to play another one.”
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics
