Men's Soccer | 11/5/2018 4:55:00 PM

DANBURY, CONN. – The Manhattanville College men's soccer program has earned a bid to the 2018 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Men's Soccer Championship, as announced by the ECAC today, Monday, Nov. 5.
 
This is the first time the Valiants have earned a postseason bid since the 2015 season. This year has been a great one for Manhattanville as the squad has amassed a 12-5 overall record, including a 5-2 mark in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom play. The 12 victories are the most for the program since 2011. Additionally, the Valiants qualified for the MAC Freedom tournament and closed out play following a tough 1-0 semifinal overtime loss at King's College (Pa.) last Tuesday night, Oct. 30, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
 
Play in the 16-team ECAC Championship will begin with the first round this Saturday, Nov. 10. The Valiants have been selected as the No. 3 seed of Pod No. 3 and will travel to Newark, N.J. The No. 1 seed and host of Manhattanville's pod is Rutgers University-Newark, who plays No. 4 Maritime College at 11:00 a.m. The Valiants will face No. 2 Medaille College at 2:00 p.m. The winner of each match will move on to the quarterfinal round Sunday, Nov. 11, at 12:00 p.m.
 
Manhattanville and Medaille have never faced each other in program history. The Mavericks finished their season with 12-5-2 overall record, including a 7-1-1 mark in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC). They were also the runners-up in the AMCC championship game.
 
As for the other teams in Pod No. 3, the Valiants have lost to the top-seeded Scarlet Raiders three times, all by a score of 3-0, but have not played them since Nov. 15, 2015. As for Maritime, Manhattanville owns the head-to-head with a 12-8-2 record, as the two were formerly conference-mates – and will be again beginning in 2019 -- in the Skyline Conference. The two haven't met since Sept. 24, 2008, when the Valiants defeated the Privateers 4-1 in Throggs Neck, N.Y.
 
Drew University was selected as the championship's No. 1 overall seed and will host Pod No. 1. The other two hosts are MAC Commonwealth members Stevenson University (Pod No. 2) and Neumann University (Pod No. 4).
 
The semifinal and final rounds of the championship will take place next weekend at to-be-determined locations, Saturday, Nov. 17, and Sunday, Nov. 18, respectively.