EDISON, N.J. (Mar. 31, 2021) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Council of Presidents announced on Wednesday morning schedule and playoff modifications to baseball, softball, men's lacrosse, and women's lacrosse for the 2020-21 season after taking into consideration the continuously-changing spring sports schedules due to COVID-19 disruptions. The Council approved the following changes to the format that were recommended by the MAAC Committee on Athletic Administration (COAA):
 
2021 MAAC Baseball Championship

• Playoff field set at eight (8) teams
• Quarterfinal Round – May 21-23, 2021
  • Best-of-three series
  • Higher seed to host each matchup
• Championship Round – May 27-30, 2021
  • Four-team, double-elimination bracket
  • Highest remaining seed to host Championship Round

 
2021 MAAC Softball Championship

• Playoff field set at eight (8) teams
• Quarterfinal Round – May 8-9, 2021
  • Best-of-three series
  • Higher seed to host each matchup
• Championship     Round – May 14-16, 2021
  • Four-team, double-elimination bracket
  • Highest remaining seed to host Championship Round

 
2021 MAAC Men's Lacrosse Championship

• Playoff field set at eight (8) teams
• Quarterfinal Round – April 30, 2021
  • Higher seed to host each matchup*
• Semifinal Round - May 5, 2021
  • Higher seed to host each matchup*
• Championship Round – May 8, 2021
  • Highest remaining seed to host*

 
* Due to the departure of Detroit Mercy from the MAAC at the end of the Spring 2021 season, Detroit Mercy will not act as a host throughout the 2021 MAAC Men's Lacrosse Championship. In the event Detroit Mercy is the higher seed of their matchup, the lower seed will then act as host of that game.
 
2021 MAAC Women's Lacrosse Championship

• Playoff field set at nine (9) teams
  • If all nine teams are eligible to compete in the tournament, the #8 and #9 seeds will compete in a play-in game on Friday, April 30, hosted by the #1 seed. The winner of the #8/#9 game will advance to play the #1 seed in the quarterfinal round on Saturday, May 1.
• Quarterfinal Round – May 1, 2021
  • Higher seed to host each matchup
• Semifinal Round - May 6, 2021
  • Higher seed to host each matchup
• Championship Round – May 9, 2021
  • Highest remaining seed to host

 
"The evolving nature of the pandemic and its impact on schedules has led the MAAC membership to expand the championship structure for these sports to include more teams while reducing regular season games to open dates for the additional rounds," notes MAAC Commissioner Rich Ensor. "The sport committees for these sports recognized that with a decreasing number of consistent data points for selecting teams for the championships that a larger bracket would be the fairest way to handle the challenges posed by pandemic pauses for many MAAC teams."

Additionally, the Council approved the modification of the 2021 schedule for baseball, softball, men's lacrosse, and women's lacrosse in order to accommodate an expanded playoff field. Those changes are below:
 
Baseball

• Games scheduled for May 18 & 19 to be removed

Softball

• Games scheduled for May 7 & 8 to be removed

 
Women's Lacrosse

• Games scheduled for April 30 & May 1 to be removed

Revised schedules for all four sports will be announced at a later date, following approval.
 
The Council previously approved the following playoff format changes to men's and women's soccer for the 2020-21 season:

2020-21 MAAC Men's Soccer Championship

• Playoff field set at eight (8) teams
• Quarterfinal Round – April 11, 2021
  • Higher seed to host each matchup
• Semifinal Round - April 14, 2021
  • Higher seed to host each matchup
• Championship Round – April 17, 2021
  • Highest remaining seed to host

 
2020-21 MAAC Women's Soccer Championship

• Playoff field set at eight (8) teams
• Quarterfinal Round – April 9, 2021
  • Higher seed to host each matchup
• Semifinal Round - April 12, 2021
  • Higher seed to host each matchup
• Championship Round – April 16, 2021
  • Highest remaining seed to host

 
 
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) celebrates its 40^th year of competition during the 2020-21 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter's University, and Siena College.