Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University field hockey team will begin play in the new Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) field hockey league this fall.  Robert Morris will join fellow Northeast Conference (NEC) members Bryant and Sacred Heart at associate members along with full-time MAAC schools Monmouth, Quinnipiac, Rider, and Siena.

 “The MAAC is excited to sponsor Field Hockey in the fall of 2013, and the addition of the three associate members is a real positive for the conference,” notes Marshall Foley, Associate Commissioner/Championships at the MAAC. “The MAAC has been committed throughout its history to providing championship opportunities for student-athletes in all sports at its member institutions, and Field Hockey is the next step in that tradition.”

The seven-team league will receive an eighth member in 2015 when Fairfield moves to the MAAC after competing in the America East Conference.

“With the ever-changing conference landscape in college athletics, the addition of Sacred Heart, Robert Morris and Bryant as associate members of the MAAC field hockey league will provide stability and preserve some existing rivalries the teams may have established in other leagues," notes Karin Torchia, chair of the field hockey league. “It will also benefit the MAAC as a whole in continuing to be able to provide NCAA automatic qualifier and play-in opportunities for all the field hockey student-athletes.” 

When Monmouth and Quinnipiac left the NEC to become full-time members of the MAAC, the NEC was left with just four schools that fielded a field hockey program.  A conference must have a minimum of six Division-I schools playing a specific sport to remain eligible for an automatic qualification into the NCAA tournament; so the move to the MAAC allows the Colonials to still compete for an NCAA berth.

Robert Morris finished the 2012 season with an overall record of 5-13 while the Colonials went 2-5 against conference opponents in the NEC.  Having spent the first nine seasons in the NEC, the move to the MAAC is a new beginning for the Colonials who are on the rise with the departure of just two seniors from the 2012 roster and the addition of five new student-athletes.  A pair of two-time All-NEC members – Jamie Hartley (Tamworth, Australia / University of Newcastle) and Michelle Lewthwaite (Macarthur, Australia / Westfield Sports) – will each return for their junior season while Hartley looks to improve on her program-record of 42 career points in just two seasons.