![]() ![]() This go around might include another dealing with depleted membership: the America East, which just lost Stony Brook and has Hartford transitioning to Division III. The MAAC has historically looked to the NEC for replenishment - Marist and Rider joined in 1997 and Quinnipiac and Monmouth joined in 2013. Looking at that, it’s part of a branding thing and enrollment piece, meeting with alumni from those areas, if things stay the way they are - New England or the South. ![]() “We’re trying to maybe look more into New England, frankly,” Ensor said. “We are looking with the board of directors (presidents of the schools) actively, and lacrosse is in that mix.”Įnsor would not say which schools the MAAC wants to add, but he ruled out Division II schools and schools to the west of its current footprint after a dalliance with Robert Morris in 2020. We were underway even before the Monmouth decision happened with at least one school coming in, and maybe two now. “We just think it’s a good number to have in the current environment with the transformation in the governance at the NCAA level. “We are actively looking at 12,” Ensor said. Ensor said the MAAC would be aggressive in realignment. Its men’s lacrosse league would drop to five squads should St. The MAAC, which will have 10 members July 1, is comprised of small private schools throughout the Northeast. “You turn over all the rocks and look at every possibility that leads to what you want to do.” For the SoCon, which already saw Hampton leave for the CAA, losing Richmond and High Point would leave just Jacksonville, Mercer and VMI as members.ĭ’Antonio didn’t deny the possibility of adding more members to the CAA either, citing that he and his membership will “continue to assess the landscape and make decisions that are in the best interests in our conference going forward.” The NEC would lose two teams in Saint Joseph’s and Hobart, while facing the prospect of losing more teams to the MAAC. The ramifications of these potential moves would continue the cascade into other lacrosse leagues. We’ll continue to support them within our conference.” “ affiliate member until such time until they tell us otherwise. “At the present time, UMass is a valued member of the CAA conference,” CAA commissioner Joe D’Antonio said. Three of the possible targets, all of which are affiliate members in their current leagues, include Hobart (Northeast Conference), Fairfield (CAA), and High Point (Southern Conference). A spokesperson for Atlantic 10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade declined comment for this story.Īccording to a source at one institution, invitations have not been extended and a timeline hasn’t been finalized, but the plan would be to add two or three lacrosse-affiliate teams to the Atlantic 10. The league would need two more teams to be eligible for an automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament. “We are also aware of the Atlantic 10 setting up their own league,” Ensor said.įour full-fledged Atlantic 10 schools currently sponsor men’s lacrosse: Richmond, Saint Joseph’s, St. ![]() When asked about his own league’s expansion prospects upon losing Monmouth to the CAA, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference commissioner Rich Ensor acknowledged the challenge included dealing with the emergence of a potential Atlantic 10 sponsorship. The Atlantic 10 is exploring options to add men’s lacrosse, sources have told USA Lacrosse Magazine. And some leagues are looking to take advantage and begin anew. Administrators are in search of soft-landing spots for teams in limbo. Commissioners are accepting pitches from erstwhile institutions. The moves have touched off different emotions and reactions. That move, and another by the Missouri Valley, brings the total of conferences participating in realignment - willfully or not - to 17. 25 that it would add Hampton, Monmouth and Stony Brook as members. The Colonial Athletic Association announced Jan. Six months later, its effects are reverberating around the lacrosse world. Wednesday, July 21, 2021, won’t go down as the day that changed the Division I college lacrosse landscape, but a Houston Chronicle report of Texas and Oklahoma moving to the Southeastern Conference set off a cascade of conference movement that will continue for the foreseeable future. ![]()
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