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CASTINE--Maine Maritime Academy is the No. 2 seed in the East Division of the 2024 North Atlantic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament that get underway next weekend. The Mariners will face third-seeded UMaine-Farmington in the NAC East Quarterfinals at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at host Thomas College, which will play Husson in a No. 1 vs No. 4 seed matchup in the other quarterfinal.

Game Information: The NAC East Quarterfinals and Semifinals will be held at Smith Field in Waterville, Maine. Thomas Athletics will have live video and livestats available, and the department will charge admission. Sunday's semifinals will start at 4 p.m.

Records: Maine Maritime is 7-7-2 overall (3-2-1 on the road) and finished 6-3-1 in conference play, while UMaine-Farmington is 7-6-3 on the season (3-3-2 on the road) and 6-4 in the NAC. This is the first neutral site game for both teams.

What's at Stake: The East and West winners will meet in the NAC championship game on Saturday, Nov. 9, at the West Division champion, with the conference champion earning an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship.

Series History: MMA and UMF split during the regular season with the Mariners losing 1-0 in Farmington on Sep. 21 before rebounding with a convincing 3-0 home victory on Oct. 12. Overall, the Beavers lead 43-14-9 and they won 3-1 at the 2023 NAC Quarterfinals (played at Husson University) for a 1-0 neutral site record.

Anchor Points: The teams are matched fairly evenly on offensive and defensive, as Maine Maritime has scored 29 goals and given up 29 while UMF has netted 32 and allowed 28 for a plus-four differential...the Beavers have been caught offside 44 times, which is second-most in the NAC...the Mariners (76) have made 23 more saves than UMF (53)...Maine Maritime is seeking its first Finals berth since 2019...MMA is 6-2-1 when scoring first this season.

Mariners Leaders: Sophomore midfielder Gabriel Toledo and junior forward tri-captain John-John Dickenson are tied for the team lead with 12 points....the latter has a career-high four assists...Toledo tops the squad with sophomore forward James Baur (11 points) on five goals...sophomore Dillon Wilkinson is the team's best playmaker with five assists among seven points...junior defender tri-captain Ronnie Morgan and sophomore midfielder Hunter Crea give MMA scoring depth with identical four goals and two assists for 10 total points...sophomore goalkeeper Reagan Moynihan, who earned the season's final NAC Defensive Player of the Week, has compiled a 6-6-2 mark, 1.88 goals-against average for fifth in the NAC, four combined shutouts and .695 save percentage for fourth in the conference.

Coach Billy Shannon (Husson '10): He is in his ninth season at the helm and has led the program to the NAC Tournament every year (except for the COVID-19 year in 2020), including regular-season titles in 2018 and '19. Shannon was the conference's coach of the year those two seasons. He has a 58-66-12 school and NCAA record, but MMA is 41-23-6 for a .629 winning percentage in NAC play during his tenure.

UMF Top Players to Watch: Sophomore forward Mohamed Adow has accounted for 14 of his team's 32 goals and leads with 30 total points...senior midfielder Zach Chaisson is the Beavers' top playmaker with three assists and tallied two goals for seven points...sophomore Jackson Leach has primary goalkeeping duties with a 1.73 GAA, 46 saves and .648 save percentage.