BUZZARDS BAY, Mass -- Throughout the Buccaneer athletic programs there are a number of rivalries and in-season tournaments played for bragging rights in both men's and women's sports. For the Buccaneer football team there are three trophies that the Bucs play for each year. Our first Buccaneer Rivalries feature focused on football's Chowder Bowl rivalry with SUNY Maritime; this time we take a look at the longest running trophy rivalry in Buccaneer athletics, football's Admiral's Cup played annually against Maine Maritime.

In 1965 the New England Football Conference (NEFC) was formed with Maine Maritime Academy as one of the founding members of the conference along with another school we will talk about later in this series, Bridgewater State University. Eight years later Massachusetts Maritime Academy resurrected their football program with former Falmouth High School football coach Don Ruggeri as the Buccaneer head coach. That first season, 1973, the Buccaneers took on the Mariners in week six beginning what would become one of the longest rivalries in Buccaneer athletics history. 

The annual meeting is appropriately named the "Admiral's Cup" for the title given to the President of each institution. After each game the Admiral's Cup trophy, pictured below being hoisted by the Buccaneers in Castine, Maine in 2019, is presented to the winning team, typically by the Admiral of the host school. Another reason this game is so exciting and anticipated is that it is held on Homecoming weekend for the host school each year. 

That first season the Buccaneers had also played Framingham State University earlier in the season. The Rams and the Mariners are the only teams the Buccaneer football team has played every season since 1973.  

In the first game between the two storied Maritime institutions Maine was victorious shutting out the Buccaneer 28-0 in Maine. The following year the Buccaneers shutout the Mariners at home by a score of 3-0. Over the next 45 years the Buccaneers would take a series lead over the Mariners which is now at 28-19 in favor of the Bucs after the 2019 season. 

In this series of games there have been many low scoring games, like the 3-0 score in 1974, and high scoring games like the 48-34 Buccaneer win over the Mariners in the 1991 season. There have also been a fair share of blowouts for each team, like the 28-0 win for the Mariners in the first meeting and a 33-0 win for the Bucs in 1984. 

"Having played and coached in this game for so many years now I can tell you this game is one that we all get up for." Said Director of Athletics and assistant football coach Mike Kelley of the Admiral's Cup. "It is a great test for our team every year to see where we are before conference play. Every other season we get to show off our team in week two of our season to a packed Clean Harbors stadium and hundreds of alumni and our current cadets. Maine Maritime always comes ready for this game and are always gracious hosts when we travel to them." Added Kelley.

As the years passed the New England Football Conference became the Commonwealth Coast Football Conference. Teams came and went but the Buccaneer and Mariner rivalry remained. In 2013 the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference formed their own football conference and Massachusetts Maritime and the rest of the state schools left the CCFC, but the rivalry between the Bucs and the Mariners remained the same. In 2015 the Mariners moved to the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference but the Buccaneers and Mariners remained on each other's schedules. Since 2013 the game between the two teams no longer counts against their conference record but the intensity and passion within the game has never wavered. With the game being held on the hosts homecoming weekend and always a good matchup it is still, after nearly 50 years, one of the most anticipated games on the schedule for the Buccaneer football team. 

Below are the results of every game from 1973-2019: