The Liberty League is celebrating its 25th anniversary during the 2019-2020 academic year. Originally founded as the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA) in 1995, the conference was renamed the Liberty League during the summer of 2004. Each Thursday throughout the year, the Liberty League will be celebrating its silver anniversary by recognizing outstanding teams and individuals from its rich 25-year history.
One of seven teams to win a Division III national championship as a member of the Liberty League/UCAA, the 1999 St. Lawrence University men’s soccer team was the first team in NCAA Division III men’s soccer history to go unbeaten and untied en route to an NCAA Championship. The Saints went 22-0-0 under the direction of head coach Bob Durocher, winning the program’s first national title in its fourth tournament appearance in a five-year stretch.
The 1999 team posted a 17-0-0 record in the regular season, the second consecutive unbeaten and untied season in program history, and went 5-0-0 in the NCAA tournament, beating Norwich 3-1 in the opening round, Plattsburgh 4-1 in the regional final, Messiah 1-0 in the quarterfinals, Alma 2-0 in the semifinals and host Wheaton 2-0 in the final. Combined with a 17-0-2 record in 1998 the team was part of a 60-game non-losing streak, a 29-game win streak and a 40-game regular-season consecutive win streak. Both the 22 overall wins and the 17 regular-season wins are program records.
St. Lawrence also won the first five UCAA championships and eight of the first nine. The Saints have won a total of 16 UCAA/Liberty League men’s soccer championships in the league's first 24 years.
The 1999 team had a 62-15 scoring advantage for the season and posted 12 shutouts including three in a row in the NCAA tournament.
It featured the 1999 NCAA Division III Player of the Year in Dan Annan Jr. and three other All America players: first team selection Ali Montacer and second team choices Nick Hillary and Ryan Carruth. In addition to being National Player of the Year, Annan was selected as Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association Player of the Year, and Hillary was the UCAA Defensive Player of the Year. Annan, Carruth, Hillary, Montacer and Mike Berner earned first team all-league honors in 1999 while Jamal Ballantyne, Tim Bealer, Matt Bogosian, Scott Dulay and Allan Maragh also received all-conference honors.
Durocher was named NCAA Division III Coach of the Year in addition to earning UCAA and regional coach of the year honors.