Secretaries Cup

Secretaries Cup

2016 game action
Sport	Football
Teams	Coast Guard Bears Merchant Marine Mariners
First meeting	October 15, 1949 75 years ago Coast Guard, 21–14
Latest meeting	November 13, 2021 Merchant Marine, 49–14
Next meeting	November 12, 2022 (expected)
Trophy	Secretaries Cup
Statistics
Meetings total	50
All-time series	Merchant Marine leads, 35–15
Largest victory	Merchant Marine, 42–0 (1992)
Longest win streak	Merchant Marine, 7 (1965–1978)
Current win streak	Merchant Marine, 3

[Interactive fullscreen map]

Locations of Coast Guard and Merchant Marine

The Secretaries Cup is an annual college football game in the northeast United States between the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Both academies compete in NCAA Division III athletics.

The Secretaries Cup is an intense rivalry game for both schools. Although not matching the intensity or tradition of the Army–Navy Game, the Secretaries Cup is often described as a small-college version of that matchup.

The rivalry was designated as the "Secretary's Cup" 43 years ago in 1981, when both academies were in the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation. The name of the contest was pluralized when the U.S. Coast Guard moved to the Department of Homeland Security in 2003.

The two campuses are at opposite ends of Long Island Sound. The game alternates between the Coast Guard's Cadet Memorial Field in New London, Connecticut, and the Merchant Marine's Captain Tomb Field in Kings Point, New York just east of New York City.

The game had been played on the last Saturday of the Division III football regular season (generally mid-November) from 1991 through 2005. When the Coast Guard Academy joined the New England Football Conference in 2006, the rivalry became a non-conference game and was moved to September. In 2017, the game moved back to November when the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) began sponsoring football with both teams as conference members. The 2017 game was played at 12 noon on Veterans Day, November 11.

The games have been broadcast on ESPN streaming networks since 2017.

Results

Through 2021, the Merchant Marine Academy has an overall lead in the series 35–15 (.700). Since the Secretaries Cup was established in 1981, the Merchant Marine Academy leads 28–13 (.683). There have been no ties in the series.

The 2020 meeting, won 24–14 by Merchant Marine, was notable as the only Division III football game played in calendar 2020. The NCAA canceled the 2020 D-III football season due to the COVID-19 pandemic; it planned to move the division's championship tournament to spring 2021 before canceling it entirely. Nonetheless, the two academies chose to play their rivalry game on its normal schedule. Both schools had also chosen not to play football in spring 2021, making this their only game of the 2020–21 school year.

Coast Guard victories

Merchant Marine victories

Year	Winner	Score	City	Series
1949	Coast Guard	21–14	Kings Point	CG 1–0
No games played 1950–1964
1965	Merchant Marine	17–8	New London	Tied 1–1
1966	Merchant Marine	41–6	Kings Point	MM 2–1
No games played 1967–1973
1974	Merchant Marine	14–12	Kings Point	MM 3–1
1975	Merchant Marine	9–7	New London	MM 4–1
1976	Merchant Marine	9–7	Kings Point	MM 5–1
1977	Merchant Marine	10–6	New London	MM 6–1
1978	Merchant Marine	10–7	Kings Point	MM 7–1
1979	Coast Guard	30–23	New London	MM 7–2
1980	No game played
Secretary's Cup established
1981	Coast Guard	14–7	New London	MM 7–3
1982	Merchant Marine	14–7	Kings Point	MM 8–3
1983	Merchant Marine	21–14	New London	MM 9–3
1984	Merchant Marine	41–0	Kings Point	MM 10–3
1985	Merchant Marine	42–14	New London	MM 11–3
1986	Merchant Marine	28–0	Kings Point	MM 12–3
1987	Merchant Marine	10–7	New London	MM 13–3
1988	Coast Guard	35–7	Kings Point	MM 13–4
1989	Merchant Marine	24–22	New London	MM 14–4
1990	Coast Guard	21–17	Kings Point	MM 14–5
1991	Coast Guard	25–20	New London	MM 14–6
1992	Merchant Marine	42–0	Kings Point	MM 15–6
1993	Coast Guard	31–23	New London	MM 15–7
1994	Merchant Marine	21–6	Kings Point	MM 16–7
1995	Coast Guard	27–9	New London	MM 16–8
1996	Coast Guard	23–13	Kings Point	MM 16–9
1997	Coast Guard	34–16	New London	MM 16–10
1998	Merchant Marine	46–7	Kings Point	MM 17–10
1999	Merchant Marine	24–21	New London	MM 18–10
2000	Merchant Marine	28–21	Kings Point	MM 19–10
2001	Merchant Marine	7–3	New London	MM 20–10
2002	Merchant Marine	31–6	Kings Point	MM 21–10
became Secretaries Cup
2003	Coast Guard	9–7	New London	MM 21–11
2004	Merchant Marine	16–7	Kings Point	MM 22–11
2005	Merchant Marine	21–5	New London	MM 23–11
2006	Merchant Marine	21–7	Kings Point	MM 24–11
2007	Coast Guard	36–31	New London	MM 24–12
2008	Merchant Marine	34–7	Kings Point	MM 25–12
2009	Merchant Marine	33–27	Kings Point	MM 26–12
2010	Coast Guard	10–8	New London	MM 26–13
2011	Merchant Marine	35–28	Kings Point	MM 27–13
2012	Merchant Marine	43–37	New London	MM 28–13
2013	Merchant Marine	27–20	Kings Point	MM 29–13
2014	Coast Guard	42–31	New London	MM 29–14
2015	Merchant Marine	14–3	Kings Point	MM 30–14
2016	Merchant Marine	31–27	New London	MM 31–14
2017	Merchant Marine	48–23	New London	MM 32–14
2018	Coast Guard	26–12	Kings Point	MM 32–15
2019	Merchant Marine	56–41	New London	MM 33–15
2020	Merchant Marine	24–14	Kings Point	MM 34–15
2021	Merchant Marine	49–14	New London	MM 35–15

See also

• Commander-in-Chief's Trophy

References

Further reading

• Foxx, Anthony (September 15, 2014). "Strong comeback earns Coast Guard Academy the 2014 Secretaries' Cup". Transportation.gov.
• Fulkerson, Vickie (September 12, 2015). "Merchant Marine beats CGA 14-3 for the Secretaries' Cup". The Day.

External links

• College Football Data Warehouse – Coast Guard vs. Merchant Marine