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Eight schools have won at least one NEC tournament title. St. Francis (NY) ended Robert Morris' string at two-straight titles with its own back-to-back tournament titles in 1995 and 1996. Long Island snapped that streak with the 1997 tournament championship, but the Terriers came back to capture their third title in four years in 1998. After a near perfect regular season and a top-20 national ranking, UMBC took home the 1999 championship. Following a win over Lafayette in an NCAA Play-In match, the Retrievers went on to the NCAA Tournament, and nearly upset top-ranked Duke, losing 4-3 in overtime. In 2000, Fairleigh Dickinson captured its first NEC title since 1989. The Knights defended their championship in 2001 with a 2-1, four-overtime win over Long Island in the longest championship game in league history. FDU then went on a spectacular run to reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament by defeating Boston College, Princeton and Seton Hall, before succumbing to North Carolina, 3-2, in three overtimes with a Final Four berth at stake. FDU made it three in a row in 2002, winning both their tournament games in penalty kicks after playing to scoreless ties. The Knights won an NCAA Tournament game for the second consecutive year, defeating Holy Cross, before falling to fourth-seeded St. John's in double overtime. FDU collected its fourth straight NEC Tournament title in 2003 and finished the year ranked #23 in the final NSCAA/adidas poll. Long Island broke through in 2004, stopping the FDU streak at four with a 1-0 victory over the Knights. Robert Morris claimed its first league championship in 11 years in 2005. Monmouth achieved its first-ever national ranking in 2006 and went on to claim the NEC crown for the first time in 16 years. CCSU utilized a terrific late-season run to win the 2007 NEC championship as the #4 seed, then went on to the NCAA Round of 16 with wins over #15 Harvard (3-2) and #9 Tulsa (3-2) before falling to UMass (3-1). FDU made a triumphant return to the top in 2008, winning its record sixth league title with a 7-2 win over Mount St. Mary's. After capturing its fifth consecutive regular season crown, Monmouth took home its second NEC tourney championship in four years. The Hawks then advanced past #12 UConn in penalty kicks a first round NCAA marchup in West Long Branch. Monmouth finished the 2009 season ranked #13 in the nation after reaching as high as #5 in the NSCAA poll. In a season that saw Monmouth ranked as high as #4 in the nation, the Hawks repeated in 2010 after making it six straight NEC regular season titles. The 2011 season saw a three-way deadlock for the regular season crown between CCSU, Monmouth and Sacred Heart, but it was the Hawks who would go on to three-peat in the NEC Tournament. Monmouth then advanced past Stony Brook via PKs in NCAA Tournament first round actions. Long Island coach Arnie Ramirez, who also coached the Puerto Rican National Team, led the Blackbirds to the NCAA Tournament in 1985 and 1986. Long Island's Giovanni Savarese, the 1992 NEC Player of the Year, now plays for the New York/New Jersey Metrostars and was an MLS all-star in 1996. In 2000, UMBC's Giuliano Celenza joined Duke Shamo of St. Francis (NY) (1997 & 98) and Monmouth's Joni Kallioinen (1990 & 91) as the only repeat NEC Player of the Year award winners. In 2003, FDU's Andrew Nucifora was named an NSCAA/adidas third team All-American, while teammate Nadav Gottesman was tabbed to the CoSIDA Academic All-America third team. Long Island's David Ledet was tabbed to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America first team in 2004. Saint Francis (PA)'s Bryce Luetzen was chosen as a second team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American in 2007. Monmouth's Ryan Kinne (second team) and Daniel Bostock (third team) were both named adidas/NSCAA All-Americans in 2009. Bostock was also tabbed an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American. In 2010, Kinne (first team), teammate R.J. Allen (second team) and Sacred Heart's Marcello Castro (third team) NSCAA/Performance Subaru All-Americans. The Mount's Eric Detzel (first team), along with Saint Francis (PA)'s Sean O'Reilly (first team) and Patrick Fleming (second team) were all tabbed 2011 Capital One Academic All-Americans. Monmouth's R.J. Allen earned his second straight NSCAA All-American nod in 2011, picking up second team honors.
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