ECAC Set for DIII Football Bowl Championships at CCSU
DANBURY, Conn. – The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) will make history this weekend when it hosts the 2015 ECAC Division III Football Bowl Championships at Central Connecticut State University, marking the first time in the Conference's history that all regional games will be played at a pre-determined neutral site.
HUSSON vs. SALVE REGINA (CLAYTON CHAPMAN BOWL) – Friday, Nov. 20, 4 p.m.
Friday’s Clayton Chapman Bowl will mark the second-ever meeting between Husson and Salve Regina, and the first since Sept. 4, 2004. In that game, Salve Regina relied on their running attack to pull out a 35-28 victory over the Eagles.
Husson enters the Chapman Bowl having won consecutive Eastern Collegiate Football Conference regular-season titles. This will mark the Eagles’ second appearance in an ECAC Bowl Championship game, and first since 2008 when they fell to St. John Fisher, 17-7.
For Salve Regina, this will mark its seventh appearance in an ECAC Bowl Championship, and fourth since 2011. The Seahawks are 3-3 in their previous six trips to ECAC Bowl Championships, most recently defeating Norwich in 2014, 48-21.
WPI vs. KEAN (PRESIDENTS BOWL) – Friday, Nov. 20, 8 p.m.
WPI enters Friday's Presidents Bowl with a record of 7-3 after closing out the regular season on a high note last week, winning for the first time ever at Springfield 19-17. The seven wins for WPI equals the most wins since its last postseason appearance in 1992, when the Engineers squared off with Rowan in the NCAA Championships. It marks just the third postseason game in the 126-year history of WPI football as the Crimson and Gray appeared in their only other ECAC Bowl Championship game in 1991 against Buffalo State.
The Cougars will be appearing in an ECAC bowl game for the sixth time in program history. Kean’s most recent appearance was in 2009 when they topped Ursinus College, 35-14, to earn their third bowl championship. Kean capped off their regular season with a win over Montclair State University last weekend, giving them a win over every New Jersey-based New Jersey Athletic Conference school this season. The Cougars are sporting a 7-3 overall record, completely turning around their record from a season ago.
ST. JOHN FISHER vs. WESTMINSTER (JAMES LYNAH BOWL) – Saturday, Nov. 21, 11 a.m.
The St. John Fisher College Cardinals finished the 2015 season as Empire 8 Conference Co-Champions after posting a 7-3 record overall and 6-2 record in conference play. Fisher enters the post-season for the 13th-consecutive season and will compete in an ECAC Bowl Championship for the second-consecutive year after defeating Western Connecticut State University 28-14 in last season’s ECAC Northwest Bowl. This is the eighth time that the Cardinals will participate in an ECAC Bowl Championship contest, with St. John Fisher sporting a 6-1 all-time mark in such games.
Westminster, under second-year Head Coach Scott Benzel, improved to 8-2 overall and 7-1 in the PAC after a 32-0 shutout over Geneva, tying the most wins in 15 years since the Titans went 8-2 in 2000. The two Titan losses came to nationally ranked opponents in Washington & Jefferson College and Thomas More College.
Westminster has 31 playoff wins in 17 appearances, including six national titles in nine national title game appearance. The Titans are making their first ECAC Bowl appearance and first postseason appearance since a trip to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division II playoffs in 1997.
BUFFALO STATE vs. RPI (ASA S. BUSHNELL BOWL) – Saturday, Nov. 21, 5 p.m.
Buffalo State will make its second-consecutive ECAC Bowl Championship appearance, defeating Waynesburg, 59-36, last season in the Southwest Bowl. The Bengals finished the regular season with a 7-3 mark for the second-straight season, most recently defeating Brockport, 35-28, in last Saturday’s regular-season finale.
RPI finished the regular season 8-2 overall and won its final four games. The Engineers feature a balanced attack on offense, averaging 208.6 yards in the air and 168.0 on the ground. This will mark the first-ever meeting between Buffalo State and RPI.
BRIDGEWATER STATE vs. CARNEGIE MELLON (LEGACY BOWL) – Sunday, Nov. 22, 12 p.m.
Sunday’s contest will mark the first-ever meeting between Bridgewater State (7-3) and Carnegie Mellon (7-3). The Bears have won five of their past six games and finished tied for second place in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference. This marks the 10th-overall postseason appearance in program history for BSU, and will be the Bears’ seventh trip to an ECAC Bowl Championship
Carnegie Mellon has an ECAC Bowl record of 2-1. In 1999, the Cardinal and Gray traveled to Frostburg State University and came away with a 28-10 victory, and in 2007, the Tartans put together a come-from-behind, 21-20 victory against Gettysburg College. Carnegie Mellon’s lone loss came in its most recent trip to an ECAC Bowl Championship, a 28-24 loss at the hands of Waynesburg University in 2012.
ALFRED vs. FITCHBURG STATE (ROBERT M. “SCOTTY” WHITELAW BOWL) – Sunday, Nov. 22, 5 p.m.
Alfred University finished the 2015 regular season with a record of 7-3. The Saxons began the year with a pair of non-league games, winning at home against Husson in the season opener, 39-25, then traveling to RPI and beating the Engineers, 32-20.
After knocking off visiting Buff State, 29-26, in their conference opener, the Saxons fell at Empire 8-rival Ithaca, 38-18. AU then beat Morrisville State at home, 34-19, before falling at Cortland, 20-14. The Saxons would then win three straight – 42-18 at home against Hartwick; 35-13 at Brockport, and 20-16 at home against Utica – before dropping their season finale, 23-9, at St. John Fisher.
The Fitchburg State football team concluded the regular season with an overall record of 8-2 and a 6-2 mark in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) to tie the program’s all-time mark for most wins in a season after winning six of its last seven contest.