Monmouth University - Athletics

Athletics

See also: List of college athletic programs in New Jersey, USA#Division I

Monmouth's athletic teams are known as the Hawks. The school competes as a Division I (NCAA) school in the Northeast Conference. Monmouth fields the following sports at the Division I level: baseball, basketball (men's and women's), bowling (women's) cross country (men's and women's), field hockey, football, golf (men's and women's), indoor track (men's and women's), lacrosse (women's), soccer (men's and women's), softball, tennis (men's and women's), and track & field (men's and women's).

Monmouth University (then still Monmouth College), added football to the school's ledger of sports teams in 1993. The team's first game was played on September 25 of that year. The first points in school history were scored on a bizarre defensive play by intercepting and returning a two-point conversion.

A new Multipurpose Activity Center opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 16, 2009. The 153,200-square-foot (14,230 m2) Center currently serves as the primary indoor athletic structure. It houses a 4,100 seat competition arena; a 200-meter; six-lane indoor track; locker rooms; educational and conference space; ground-level bookstore; and fitness center. The new facility adjoins the William T. Boylan Gymnasium a 2,500-seat arena built in 1965.

Monmouth has been in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in 1996, 2001, 2004, and 2006. Monmouth won their first NCAA men's basketball tournament game in 2006 when they beat Hampton University in that year's play-in game. It was the first time a Northeast Conference school won a game in the NCAA tournament since 1983 when Robert Morris University won in the opening round. Monmouth's men and women's soccer teams as well as baseball and women's lacrosse and men's golf team have also reached the NCAA tournament. The Monmouth Men's Soccer team is the only sport on campus to ever advance to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. The men's soccer team also hosted three first round NCAA Tournament games on The Great Lawn, in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Monmouth's men's soccer team has even been ranked as one of the top teams in the country. In September 2010, Monmouth attained the #4 spot on the NSCAA/HendrickCars.com National Rankings and has been ranked in the national top 25 every single week for the past two seasons.