Hofstra athletics is getting some new competition in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The conference announced on Jan. 25 that it is adding Stony Brook University, Monmouth University and Hampton University beginning on July 1, 2022. This comes in a time of turmoil in the NCAA with dozens of schools moving conferences. “We are excited about today’s announcement as it relates to the expansion of the Colonial Athletic Association,” said Hofstra Athletic Director Rick Cole Jr. via Hofstra’s official athletics website. “”The conference staff, led by Commissioner [Joe] D’Antonio, along with the University presidents and athletic directors, have worked tirelessly over the past few months and years to ensure the stability, growth, and success of the CAA. Today’s announcement reflects everyone’s hard work and is the start of a new era in the CAA. Hofstra University and our athletic programs look forward to competing against these institutions on the various fields of play but first we congratulate them on joining an incredible conference with a bright future!”
Stony Brook is the most exciting addition from Hofstra’s perspective. The two schools have faced off in basketball and lacrosse for years in a rivalry dubbed the “Battle of Long Island.” Their men’s basketball teams have squared off every season since 2014-15, most recently on Dec. 8, 2021, when the Seawolves won 79-62 in Suffolk. The women’s basketball teams didn’t play this year but they faced off each of the six prior seasons, with Stony Brook winning the last four meetings. The men’s lacrosse teams have battled each of the last six years, most recently a memorable 20-17 win for the Pride on Feb. 27, 2021, at James M. Shuart Stadium. Stony Brook will come to Hempstead this season to take part in a four-team weekend competition with Hofstra, Long Island University and St. John’s University. The Pride and Seawolves have the potential to face each other in the second day of that competition. The women’s lacrosse teams faced off last season for the first time since 2017 but they have played each other in four of the last seven years. They’re scheduled to meet again on Hofstra soil on March 18, 2022.
Outside of those four teams, Hofstra women’s soccer is 11-0 against the Seawolves and they’ve played each of the last six seasons. Men’s soccer shut out Stony Brook 1-0 during its 2021 season, the seventh year in a row the two teams have played. Volleyball is 9-0 against Stony Brook with six sweeps including the last two meetings. They’ve met each of the last seven years. Softball split a double-header last season and the two teams have battled seven of the last eight years. Baseball hasn’t faced Stony Brook since 2010 but the two will renew the rivalry on May 4, 2022.
Stony Brook is coming over from the America East Conference where it has been since 2001 when it joined in an effort to replace Hofstra, Drexel University, the University of Delaware and Towson University when they all bolted to the CAA. Northeastern University is also a former America East affiliate. Stony Brook already plays football in the CAA. “They are certainly rivals on the court and on the field but the fact that both of them will now be part of the CAA, in my mind, is a special thing not only for the conference as a whole, but really a special thing for the Long Island region,” said CAA Commissioner Joe D’Antonio. “Hofstra was incredibly supportive in this process, and I know is very excited to see Stony Brook joining the conference today as a full member.”
Hofstra hasn’t face Monmouth recently in too many sports, although the Hawks have been a staple of the men’s basketball schedule over the past five seasons. The Pride won each of those five meetings including a 77-71 win in West Long Branch, NJ on Dec. 22, 2021. The only other matchups between the two schools within the last seven years came in women’s field hockey, soccer, baseball and men’s lacrosse. Most recently, field hockey fell 2-1 to the Hawks during the 2021 season. The women’s soccer team opened its 2019 season with a 1-0 road win over the Hawks while the baseball team split two games with Monmouth in its 2019 season. Men’s lacrosse played home matchups with the Hawks in 2017 and 2018, winning both.
Monmouth comes from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). It was one of the conferences newest members, joining in 2013 along with Quinnipiac University.
The Pride has only ever faced Hampton once in softball. Hofstra took home an 11-2 road win over the Lady Pirates on March 10, 2019. The schools have never met in any other sport on record.
Hampton comes as a Virginia replacement for departing James Madison University (JMU) who will compete in the Sun Belt Conference next season. The Pirates come from the Big South Conference where they’ve only been since 2018. Other former Big South members in the CAA are Elon University and Towson. Hampton is one of two Division I historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) to be in a conference other than the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference or the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
With the addition of these three schools, the CAA grows from ten schools, including JMU, to 12. Since the conference is adding two more schools in the northeast, there are rumors about splitting into divisions to reduce travel, although there is no confirmation on that yet. “Discussions regarding schedules, scheduling formats, potential division play as well as championship field sizes are ongoing and will be determined and announced over the coming months,” D’Antonio said. “Our current membership is excited as we add our new members that they will be able to participate in these discussions and ultimately the finalization of the decisions that are made.”
Other conferences with members in the New York area, such as the Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conference, hold their basketball conference championships in New York which sparked rumors of the CAA moving its men’s basketball championship north. “What I would envision is a full discussion with our membership relative to the best possible location for our men’s basketball tournament going forward,” D’Antonio said. “I’d be hesitant today to say that the tournament would definitely move to New York, but I would never close any doors in terms of what options could be available to us in the future.” The conference still has two years left on its agreement with the Events DC Center which hosted the tournament in 2020 before the 2021 tournament was moved to JMU’s campus amidst COVID concerns.
From Hofstra’s perspective, it has two new conference rivals closer than anyone else in the CAA and a chance to take a longtime rivalry to the next level.
