Boston U. Leads Commissioner's Cup Race After Fall Season - AmericaEast.com
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Winner of the last five America East Stuart P. Haskell, Jr. Commissioner’s Cups, Boston University is on track to earn its sixth straight Cup after a successful fall season. The Terriers, who won conference championships in women’s soccer and men’s cross country, lead the 2010-11 Commissioner’s Cup standings following the completion of the fall athletic season. The Commissioner’s Cup annually recognizes the strongest athletic program in America East as determined by a scoring system which rewards a school for success both during the regular season and at championship competition in the conference’s 20 sports.
Following the six fall championships, Boston U. has 136 points and holds an 11-point cushion over University at Albany, which has 125 points. Stony Brook University is in third with 113 points and followed closely by University of New Hampshire, which has 109. Binghamton University and UMBC are tied for sixth place with 86 points apiece. University of Maine (67 points), University of Hartford (51) and University of Vermont (39) round out the standings.
Boston U., which is tied with Delaware for the most Cups all-time with 10, earned a significant amount of points by winning regular-season titles in men’s and women’s soccer. The Terriers won the tournament title in women’s soccer for the fourth straight year and captured its first men’s cross country crown since 2000. Boston U. also earned points by finishing third during the field hockey regular season.
Albany won the regular-season and tournament titles in volleyball. It was the fifth time in seven years the Great Danes have been crowned volleyball champions. Albany also won the field hockey championship as the No. 2 seed, it’s second title in three years. The women’s soccer team also enjoyed its most successful season at the Division I level, sharing third place with Hartford and reaching the America East semifinals for the first time.
Stony Brook took home its fourth straight cross country title on the women’s side and its women’s soccer squad finished second in the regular-season standings. The men’s soccer team placed third and reached the America East semifinals for the second straight year, while the volleyball team finished fourth and reached the conference tournament for the first time since 2007.
New Hampshire was runner-up in women’s cross country, field hockey and men’s soccer, and also won the regular-season title in field hockey before falling to Albany in the championship game. The Wildcats reached the men’s soccer final for the first time since 1994 as the No. 5 seed and tied UMBC, but were edged in the decisive penalty kick round.
UMBC collected the most points in men’s soccer by finishing second in the regular season and winning its first-ever league championship. The Retrievers also played for the volleyball title for the second time in five years as the No. 3 seed.
Binghamton finished as runners-up in men’s cross country after winning the title last season. The Bearcats also earned points by qualifying for the volleyball and men’s soccer championships as the No. 2 and No. 4 seed, respectively.
Maine became the first No. 6 seed to ever advance to the women’s soccer championship game and also earned significant points in cross country, finishing third on the women’s side and fourth on the men’s.
Hartford earned 29 of its 51 points in women’s soccer, finishing in tie with Albany for third place, but fell in the America East quarterfinals to Maine.
Vermont accumulated the majority of its points in men’s soccer, finishing sixth and earning an America East Championship berth.
The Stuart P. Haskell, Jr. Commissioner’s Cup is named in honor of the first commissioner of America East. Haskell served as commissioner of the conference from 1987 until his retirement in 1997.
The scoring system for the Stuart P. Haskell, Jr. Commissioner’s Cup is as follows: In sports where regular-season round robin competition is conducted, the first-place institution in the final standings receives four points times the total number of teams involved in conference play. The second-place institution receives four less points; third place receives eight less points, and so on. Additionally, the America East (tournament) champion receives two points times the total number of teams participating in the championship. The second-place institution receives two less points; third place receives four less points and so on down to the last-place institution which receives two points.
In sports where regular-season round robin competition is not conducted (cross country, tennis, track and field, swimming and diving), the first-place institution at the America East championship receives two points times the total number of teams participating in the championship. The second-place institution receives two less points; third place gets four less points and so on down to the last place team which receives two points.