What is #NECPride
 
#NECPride is about having pride in your team, your school and the will to succeed both on and off the field.
 
#NECPride is about achievement, ambition, perseverance, community, passion, respect, determination, unity and teamwork.

Northeast Conference History
As the Northeast Conference (NEC) enters its 42nd year as an NCAA Division I athletic entity, the league’s NEC mission has remained remarkably consistent: to provide opportunities for student-athletes to achieve their fullest potential in the classroom, in athletic competition and in the community.
 
Focusing on the areas of student-athlete achievement, academic excellence, integrity, sportsmanship, diversity, equity and inclusion, innovation, community partnership and national engagement, the NEC continues to make great strides under the leadership of Commissioner Noreen Morris, now in the 14th year of her tenure. With the NEC's five-year Strategic Plan providing a blueprint for the future, there is no shortage of excitement headed into the 2022-23 season as the nine-strong NEC looks to stand out among its peers, while fostering a sense of #NECPride amongst its student-athletes, coaches, administrators and fans.
 
When the Northeast Conference (NEC) was first established as the ECAC-Metro Conference back in 1981, the league’s founders had one goal in mind: to create a competitive NCAA Division I men’s basketball conference for unaffiliated schools on the Eastern seaboard. A single-sport entity at its inception, the NEC has grown far beyond expectations over the past four decades, having transformed itself into a 24-sport conference.
 
The remarkable success story of the Conference began to unfold in 1985, when the league began sponsoring additional sports. Three years later, a change of name was in order and the Northeast Conference as we know it today was born. With membership and sport sponsorship continuing to grow over the years, the NEC enjoys qualification or play-in access to 15 different NCAA Championships (baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, women's bowling, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s golf, women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis and women’s volleyball).
 
Though the NEC has featured various incarnations since its inception, charter members FDU, LIU, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner remain part of the current nine-school alignment. They are joined by Central Connecticut (1997), Sacred Heart (1999), Merrimack (2019) and Stonehill (2022), the league's newest member.

Stonehill, which accpeted its membership invitation on April 5, 2022, field 23 varsity sports, 20 of which are sponsored by the NEC.

Merrimack will become a full member of the conference in 2023-24 and Stonehill in 2026-27 upon completion of their respective four-year NCAA Division I reclassification period.

The NEC's geographic footprint stretches to five states, including access to such major media markets as New York City, Boston, Pittsburgh, Hartford and Providence.
 
With the addition of men’s volleyball in 2022-23, NEC member institutions now compete in 24 championship sports: baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s bowling, men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, and men's and women’s volleyball.
   
An Innovative Leader
The Northeast Conference emphasizes the overarching idea that being a NEC student-athlete is about more than wins and losses; it is about educating and developing the whole person in five key areas:

• Classroom Achievement
• Community Involvement
• Campus Life
• Career Aspirations
• Conference Camaraderie
 
To spread its message, the NEC has fully embraced social media to reach its growing fan base. The Conference has built a loyal, growing legion of followers on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. The NEC Overtime! blog also remains a popular destination spot for fans of the league.
 
One of the landmark moments in Northeast Conference history came back in August, 2012 with the launch of NEC Front Row.
 
Recently celebrating its 10-year anniversary, the NEC’s popular digital platform was conceived with the idea of serving as a unifying thread among NEC members and a one-stop destination for the league’s fans.
 
When the network hit the ground running in 2012, it served as one of the first NCAA DI conference streaming platforms and has only grown in stature since that time.

Over the last decade, NEC Front Row has attracted a loyal following for its rich set of content, which includes one-click access to live events, coaches shows, special events and the league’s extensive digital library, all free of charge to users. The network gives fans inside access to the NEC and its student-athletes on the field, in the classroom, across campus, and in the community. 

NEC Front Row has expanded its reach in recent years by simulcasting a number of NEC Championship events on ESPN3 and televised basketball games on both ESPN3 and regional television.

Much of Front Row’s recent popularity can be traced back to the August, 2019 launch of a series of free over-the-top (OTT) streaming and mobile apps to make the Front Row viewing experience even more enjoyable for viewers. The NEC on the Run apps were made available on a host of platforms, including iOS mobile (iPhone/iPad), Android mobile, Android TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Roku.

The NEC on the Run apps provide DVR controls, a mobile-first user interface, social media sharing, stored user preferences and an audio-only mode within the mobile apps that includes Bluetooth integration and background listening. The apps also include push notifications, podcasting integration and the ability to launch from a browser.

NECFrontRow.com was also redesigned in 2020 to enhance the viewing experience, providing fans with a more prominent window to enjoy HD viewing. DVR controls, live stats for selected sports and the ability to join the conversation via social media from the desktop site. The site’s popular control room feature allows viewers to watch multiple games at once on a single screen. The responsive site can also be viewed on mobile devices as it will adapt to each particular screen size, platform and orientation.

By the end of year ten, approximately 7,600 live events had been broadcast on Front Row with over 4.3 million viewers tuning in to the network.
  
In May of 2020, the NEC launched the NEC Overtime! Pod, the official podcast network of the conference. Listeners can stream, download and subscribe to the NEC Overtime! Pod through a host of major platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher. Many podcasts are also available in video form on the league’s YouTube page (@NECsports).
 
The NEC hosted NEC Basketball and Football Virtual Media Days the last two years to ceremoniously tip and kick off their respective seasons. Fans were able to watch the festivities live on NEC Front Row and ESPN3.
 
The Northeast Conference (NEC) closed out its four-year All In, Ball Out branding campaign last winter. Brought to life by the league’s in-house creative group, All In, Ball Out captures the essence and attitude of the NEC’s basketball-centric nature. One of the campaign’s hype videos was named a finalist for a Sports Video Group (SVG) award in the Short Form Fan Engagement category. 
 
NEC Front Row was there when the basketball season tipped off at NEC “Social” Media Day, and returned for the climax as well via NEC Front Row Live! The online digital network was once again on the scene at the men’s abd women's title games, providing live pre- and post-game coverage wrapped around the ESPN broadcasts.
 
The NEC produced a slate of original content in 2021-22, most notably The Whole Nine Yards (football) and NEC on the Run (men’s and women’s basketball) weekly shows that aired exclusively on NEC Front Row. The comprehensive programs aired highlights of recent events, previewed upcoming games, showcased spotlight performers, broke down key plays and tackled the latest in social media.
 
The conference placed a strong emphasis on visual based communication, producing high quality artwork to celebrate the NEC’s athletic, academic and community service achievements, as well as the league’s commitment to good sportsmanship. Likewise, all year-end major award winners in every sport were honored with their own cutting-edge graphics.
 
Having provided an alternate take on the world of NEC sports since 2011, the NEC Overtime! Blog continued to be a favorite destination for fans of the Conference and its members. The blog showcased important happenings from around the NEC and served as a home for social media roundups, fan polls and #NECinthePros updates during the 2021-22 academic calendar. Ryan Peters served as an Overtime! feature basketball writer for the fourth straight season.
 
The NEC re-imagined its long-standing NEC Notebook feature, as this year’s spots featured both men’s and women’s highlights during this weekly 60-second segment. The notebooks were made available on Twitter and during league webcasts throughout the year, and also aired during NEC regional basketball telecasts.   
 
The NEC produced a 25-game hoops package in 2021-22 with all games distributed nationally in some form and an eight-game NEC football package aired exclusively on ESPN3. The conference also had a presence on the regional airwaves with a series of basketball games televised on SNY and MASN.

Success in the Classroom
It was another memorable year in the classroom for the Northeast Conference (NEC) student-athletes.
 
Overall, NEC student-athletes combined to post a 3.328 GPA for the 2021-22 academic year, the third-best showing in conference annals. A record 3,826 student-athletes were named to NEC Academic Honor Rolls in 2021-22. Likewise, a record 1,473 student-athletes were tabbed to the Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll with GPAs of 3.75 or higher.
 
Saint Francis U was named the NEC Institutional Academic Award winner with a 3.479 GPA in 2021-22. SFU edged out LIU, which finished with a 3.459 GPA. Sacred Heart (3.437), Wagner (3.331) and Bryant (3.322) followed in that order to round out the top-five. All 11 NEC schools finished with a 3.179 GPA or higher in 2019-20.
 
The NEC tied for 10th among the 32 NCAA DI conferences in four-year APR concluding with the 2020-21 academic year. The NEC’s collective 986 APR during that time frame set a new conference record and bettered the national average of 984, Likewise, NEC student-athletes graduated at a 92 percent rate over the four-year time period, matching the conference GSR record and tying for ninth nationally. In addition, 42 percent of NEC teams earned a perfect GSR.

Athletic Achievement & Events
To have #NECPride is to live it, and NEC student-athletes did just that on the field of play during the 2021-22 season, a year that yielded eight All-American selections, three Academic All-Americans, eight teams which earned national rankings in their respective sports and seven NEC Tournament victories.
 
After winning two of the three NEC Commissioner’s Cup awards a year ago, LIU was chomping at the bit for a sweep in 2021-22. Needing to capture the NEC baseball title to do just that, the Sharks clamped down to beat Bryant and secure a place in NEC Commissioner’s Cup lore. LIU became the first institution in 11 years to win all three legs of the Cup, which rewards the all-around performance of an athletic program. LIU repeated as the Brenda Weare Commissioner’s Cup winner with a record point total, corralled its second straight Joan Martin Women’s Commissioner’s Cup and won it’s first ever NEC Men’s Cup.

With support from the First Point Volleyball Foundation, the NEC unveiled men’s volleyball as the league’s newest championship sport for the 2022-23 academic year. The NEC joined the Big West as the lone multi-sport NCAA DI conferences to sponsor the sport. Daemen and D’Youville were added as men’s volleyball associates.
 
At the close of the 2021-22 academic year, the NEC bolstered its membership in a trio of sports thanks to a unique partnership with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). The collaboration between the two conferences in the sports of baseball, men’s golf and women’s golf will bring a host of MEAC schools under the NEC banner beginning with the 2022-23 academic year. The affiliate member relationship will provide uninterrupted regular season, conference championship and NCAA automatic qualifier access to the incoming MEAC programs as they join forces with NEC sponsoring members in the aforementioned sports.
 
The NEC’s showed its muscle once again in the sport of women’s bowling, placing three teams into the NCAA Bowling Championship, the fifth time the conference has earned multiple bids since 2010. Claiming an at-large berth, FDU would go on to reach the Final Four for the ninth time in program history. Mount St. Mary’s reached the regional final after collecting an at-large bid. NEC champion Sacred Heart earned the league’s AQ spot.

Of the NEC’s eight competing women’s bowling programs, five earned NTCA Top-25 rankings. At year’s end, FDU ranked ninth, and was joined by Mount St. Mary’s (11th), Duquesne (12th), Sacred Heart (15th) and LIU (19th).

The NTCA recognized Duquesne graduate student Olivia Farwell as the NTCA DI Player of the Year and as a first team All-American. She joined FDU all-time great and NEC Hall of Famer Danielle McEwan as NEC bowlers to capture NTCA Player of Year honors. McEwan was a two-time winner of the award both 2012 and 2013. 

After surviving a PK shootout to win the program’s fifth NEC men’s soccer title, LIU went on to post a 1-0 win over Maryland in the first round of the NCAA College Cup. The Sharks netted the game winner in dramatic fashion on Assane Ben Fall’s long, looping shot from distance with just 1:17 to play. It marked the first NCAA Tournament win for LIU since 1982 and the program’s 13th overall.

NEC football produced  six Stats Perform Legacy award finalists. Sacred Heart junior running back Malik Grant was  a candidate for the Walter Payton Award (nation’s top offensive player) and for the second year running, Wagner senior linebacker Titus Leo was among the elite considered for the Buck Buchanan Award (top defensive player). Merrimack wideout Jacari Carter and Bryant quarterback Zevi Eckhaus were both finalists for the Jerry Rice Award (top freshman), while Duquesne offensive lineman Jake Dixon merited consideration for the Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award. Bryant head coach Chris Merritt achieved finalist status for the Eddie Robinson Award (top coach).

A pair of NEC Player of the Year award winners were honored with All-American distinction by a pair of organizations. NEC Offensive Player of the Year Malik Grant (SHU) earned Stats Perform and Hero Sports third team honors, while NEC Defensive Player of Year Titus Leo (WC) was tabbed to the Hero Sports first team and Stats Perform third team. SHU offensive tackle JD DiRenzo added a Stats Perform third team selection.

CCSU stretched its NEC women’s cross-country title streak to four as all-time Blue Devil great Angie Rafter claimed her third NEC individual crown on her home course and was named the NEC Outstanding Performer. She joined Wagner’s Tara Maguire (1987, 1988 & 1990) as the only 3x winners in race history. She placed first, first, second and first at the event in her four years.

Led by three-time NEC Midfielder of the Year Roma McLaughlin, CCSU women’s soccer did what it does best...collect NEC Championship trophies on its home turf. With a 3-0 win over FDU, the top-seeded Blue Devils secured their fourth straight title and 12th overall tournament crown, eight more than any other program in league annals.

Headlining the list of 2021-22 NEC men’s basketball elite was Wagner graduate senior guard Alex Morales. Deemed the “King of Staten Island,” Morales etched himself into the recordbook by repeating as the NEC Player of the Year. In doing so, he became just the fourth player in conference history to win the coveted award twice. But that wasn’t all for Morales, as he pulled off the rare double when he was also voted the NEC Defensive Player of the Year, a feat that has only been accomplished one other time in conference annals. He was also named a Lou Henson All-American.

FDU sophomore triple jumper Salif Mane excelled on the biggest stages in 2021-22, earning both indoor and outdoor track and field All-America status. Mane, who finished seventh at the indoor nationals to earn first team honors, followed with second team plaudits at the NCAA outdoor championships with a 12th place showing. In doing so, the became the first 2x All-American in the same academic year since LIU’s Brendon Rodney in 2016.

The Saint Francis U softball dynasty showed no signs of slowing down, as the Red Flash earned distinction as the first program to capture five straight NEC softball championships with its 9-0 win over LIU in the title tilt. The top-seeded Red Flash won all three of their tournament games in dominant fashion, outscoring opponents by a 23-7 margin on their home turf. NEC Player of the Year Mekenzie Saban was also lauded as a first team CoSIDA Academic All-American.

LIU senior hurler Joshua Loeschorn added second team Collegiate Baseball All-America honors to his NEC Pitcher of the Year award. He tied for second nationally with 11 victories.

For the first time since the inception of the NEC Female Team Student-Athlete of the Year Award presented by Provident Bank, there were co-winners as Angie Rafter, an accomplished distance runner for CCSU’s cross country/track & field teams and the league’s first-ever four-time Scholar-Athlete of the Year in any sport (XC), and Mekenzie Saban, a decorated infielder for the Saint Francis U softball team, shared the NEC’s most prestigious individual honor.

St. Francis Brooklyn men’s soccer defender Harold Sollund’s tireless work ethic on the pitch coupled with his dedication in both the classroom and in the community paid off, as he capped off an impressive career by winning the NEC Male Team Student-Athlete of the Year Award presented by Provident Bank.

NEC SAAC: On Campus & In The Community 
The NEC, its member institutions and student-athletes have made community involvement an important piece of its mission.
 
For the fourth year in a row, Saint Francis U made the largest school-wide contribution to the NEC SAAC Money Wars fundraiser The Red Flash raised $7,009 to shatter the all-time single-year record for a NEC school since the annual fundraising event began in 2010. All funds went to Seedz 4 Needz to purchase toys, games, books and blankets for the children at UPMC Children’s Hospital. In total, NEC schools raised over $16,000 from the SAAC-led initiative.

The NEC’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) took the challenge of serving their communities to a new level this past year. The sixth annual NEC SAAC Canned Food Drive competition resulted in the collection of a record 17,326 non-perishable food items, bringing in 237 more items than the previous high of 17,089 set over the course of the 2019-20 academic year. The Saint Francis U SAAC collected a record 6,056 non-perishables to the Dorothy Day Outreach Center in Loretto, topping the previous high of 4,407 cans. SAAC leaders at each of the league’s member institutions organized collection efforts on their respective campuses prior to the holiday season and selected local charities as the recipients of the collected items.

For the third time in the last four years,Saint Francis U was the recipient of the NEC Building Communities award, as presented by Insperity. The award recognizes the institution that demonstrates the highest dedication to making an impact in the community through the efforts of its student-athletes, coaches and administrators. SFU logged 8.568 hours and conference members logged a 36,727 hours of community service over the course of the 2021-22 academic year.
 
NEC student-athletes, coaches, staff and administrators had the opportunity to take part in a presentation hosted by former FDU student-athlete and nationally recognized diversity and inclusion speaker Nevin Caple. As part of the NEC Speakers Bureau, she engaged in meaningful dialogue with student-athletes, coaches and teams at each campus to build more inclusive environments and develop sport-specific inclusion strategies.
 
Wagner triathlete Ally Meehan was named the league’s representative on the NCAA SAAC and will serve as the NEC SAAC Co-Chair with Saint Francis U volleyball player Peyton Blain in 2022-23. Former Wagner tennis player and NEC SAAC Co-Chair Vedika Anand served on the NCAA Board of Governors Student-Athlete Engagement Committee during the 2021-22 academic year.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
In support of the NEC’s Strategic Plan and its goal to Support Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, the conference supported a series of DE&I initiatives in 2021-22. Ratified in the spring of 2019, the Strategic Plan included the formation of a NEC Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Subcommittee with an eye on implementing conference-wide programming and providing educational resources to enhance DE&I efforts.
 
Of note, the NEC has hosted a DE&I Summit with close to 100 NEC athletic administrators and campus leaders in attendance.
 
In January, NEC teams hosted doubleheaders on Martin Luther King Day, with a focus on community outreach and celebrating a theme of “Unity” throughout the league as the NEC provided co-branded shooting shirts to all of its basketball student-athletes. 
 
In the summer of 2020, the conference unveiled NEC Champions For Change, which is designed to be a platform for the league’s student-athletes, coaches and administrators to share their experiences around social injustice and social change. The NEC utilized its social media channels to convey these messages as a first step towards the conference’s commitment to help create impactful change within our communities.

In 2021-22, the league introduced #NECSpeaksUp, a platform for conference members to use their voice to advocate for social change in areas that are important to them. 

The NEC drew attention to Cultural Heritage Months via social media. The conference highlighted stories from student-athletes, coaches and administrators from these communities under the NEC Champions for Change and #NECSpeaksUp umbrella, including National Hispanic Heritage Month, Native American Heritage Month, Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, Pride Month and International Students Week.

The NEC also embarked on a conference-wide #NECVotes campaign on its social media channels focused on the importance of registering to vote and exercising one’s civic duty. All student-athletes conference-wide are provided with a day off from required athletically related activities on Election Day.
  
Commitment to Sportsmanship
The NEC continued its long-running participation in the NCAA’s Respect Campaign, an effort to promote an environment of respect and integrity at Conference events.
 
The NEC Team Sportsmanship Award program recognized those teams and student-athletes who adhere to the principles of sportsmanship and pursue victory with honor.  The NEC honored teams for their commitment to sportsmanship during the 2021-22 academic year..
 
The Conference ran Public Service Announcements and promos on the importance of sportsmanship during league telecasts and webcasts.