Secretaries Cup

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.^[3] Both academies compete in NCAA Division III athletics.^[4]

Secretaries Cup

2016 game action
Sport	Football
Teams	Coast Guard Bears Merchant Marine Mariners
First meeting	October 15, 1949 76 years ago Coast Guard, 21–14[1]: 34
Latest meeting	November 16, 2024 Coast Guard, 42–21
Next meeting	2025
Stadiums	Brooks Stadium (Kings Point) and Cadet Memorial Field (Coast Guard)
Trophy	Secretaries Cup
Statistics
Meetings total	53
All-time series	Merchant Marine leads, 37–16[1]: 34 [2]
Trophy series	Merchant Marine leads, 30–14
Largest victory	Merchant Marine, 42–0 (1992)[1]: 34
Longest win streak	Merchant Marine, 7 (1965–1978)
Current win streak	Coast Guard, 1

50km
31miles

Coast Guard

Merchant Marine

   

Locations of Coast Guard and Merchant Marine

The Secretaries Cup is an intense rivalry game for both schools.^[5] Though less well known than the Army–Navy Game,The Secretaries Cup is often described as a small-college version of that matchup.^[6][7]

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.

History

The first meeting between the schools was in 1949.^[8] Played at King's Point in front of 4,000 spectators, the Bears won 21–14 after scoring the game-winning touchdown with one minute remaining.^[9]

The rivalry was designated as the "Secretary's Cup" in 1981, when both academies were in the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation.^[10] The name of the contest was pluralized when the United States Coast Guard moved to the Department of Homeland Security in 2003.^[11]

The games have been broadcast on ESPN's streaming networks since 2017. That year's meeting was played at 12 noon on Veterans Day, November 11.^[12]

While the Secretaries Cup is typically played at either school's campus, it was moved to Fenway Park in Boston for the 2025 edition.^[13]

Results

Through 2024, the Merchant Marine Academy has an overall lead in the series 37–16 (.698). Since the Secretaries Cup was established in 1981, the Merchant Marine Academy leads 30–14 (.682). 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.^[4]

Coast Guard victories

Merchant Marine victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 1949 Kings Point, NY Coast Guard 21–14 2 1965 New London, CT Merchant Marine 17–8 3 1966 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 41–6 4 1974 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 14–12 5 1975 New London, CT Merchant Marine 9–7 6 1976 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 9–7 7 1977 New London, CT Merchant Marine 10–6 8 1978 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 10–7 9 1979 New London, CT Coast Guard 30–23 10 1981 New London, CT Coast Guard 14–7 11 1982 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 14–7 12 1983 New London, CT Merchant Marine 21–14 13 1984 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 41–0 14 1985 New London, CT Merchant Marine 42–14 15 1986 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 28–0 16 1987 New London, CT Merchant Marine 10–7 17 1988 Kings Point, NY Coast Guard 35–7 18 1989 New London, CT Merchant Marine 24–22 19 1990 Kings Point, NY Coast Guard 21–17 20 1991 New London, CT Coast Guard 25–20 21 1992 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 42–0 22 1993 New London, CT Coast Guard 31–23 23 1994 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 21–6 24 1995 New London, CT Coast Guard 27–9 25 1996 Kings Point, NY Coast Guard 23–13 26 1997 New London, CT Coast Guard 34–16 27 1998 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 46–7 No. Date Location Winner Score 28 1999 New London, CT Merchant Marine 24–21 29 2000 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 28–21 30 2001 New London, CT Merchant Marine 7–3 31 2002 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 31–6 32 2003 New London, CT Coast Guard 9–7 33 2004 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 16–7 34 2005 New London, CT Merchant Marine 21–5 35 2006 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 21–7 36 2007 New London, CT Coast Guard 36–31 37 2008 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 34–7 38 2009 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 33–27 39 2010 New London, CT Coast Guard 10–8 40 2011 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 35–28 41 2012 New London, CT Merchant Marine 43–37 42 2013 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 27–20 43 2014 New London, CT Coast Guard 42–31 44 2015 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 14–3 45 2016 New London, CT Merchant Marine 31–27 46 2017 New London, CT Merchant Marine 48–23 47 2018 Kings Point, NY Coast Guard 26–12 48 2019 New London, CT Merchant Marine 56–41 49 2020 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 24–14 50 2021 New London, CT Merchant Marine 49–14 51 2022 Kings Point, NY Merchant Marine 41–33 52 2023 New London, CT Merchant Marine 39–27 53 2024 Kings Point, NY Coast Guard 42–21 Series: Merchant Marine leads 37–16

• Note: there were no games for the following years; 1950–1964, 1967–1973 and 1980

See also

• Commander-in-Chief's Trophy
• List of NCAA college football rivalry games