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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. Fairleigh Dickinson made another deep NCAA Tournament run after winning its seventh NEC crown in 2012. The Knights knocked off St. John's and Saint Louis to reach the Sweet 16 before losing in OT at North Carolonia. St. Francis Brooklyn grabbed its first NEC title in 15 years in 2013 then repeated in 2014. LIU Brooklyn returned to the winner's circle in 2015 after becoming the first team since 1995 to finish the regular season without a tie or loss. St. Francis Brooklyn won its seventh championship in 2016 after not allowing a goal in NEC regular season and postseason play. The Terriers made it four titles in five years in 2017, scoring eight goals in two shutout wins in the tournament. The championship remained in Brooklyn in 2018, but swung back to LIU, which won its fourth tournament title and sixth overall championship. Merrimack won the NEC regular season title in its first year in the NEC in 2019, but was ineligible for the NEC Tournament as it transtions to DI. Instead, it wss FDU that won it all the eighth time in its history, surviving both 2019 postseason matches in penalties. In yet another memorable PK shootout, St. Francis Brooklyn and LIU went toe-to-toe for ten rounds in the 2020-21 title game with the Terriers coming out on top for the program's ninth championship. SFBK went on to beat Milwaukee in the first round of the NCAA College Cup before taking No. 2 Indiana to PKs before falling in the next round. LIU and SFBK went to PKs once again for the 2021 title, and this time it was the Sharks coming out on top. FDU rallied late to win its ninth NEC Tournament title and tenth overall crown in 2022. LIU captured its second title in three years and sixth overall in 2023, then repeated in 2024, after taking down old rival FDU in PKs.
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. Sacred Heart's Marcello Castro once again earned All-American plaudits in 2012 with his selection to the second team. St. Francis Brooklyn's Kevin Correa was named to the NSCAA All-America third team in 2013. Saint Francis U's Francis de Vries picked up back-to-back NSCAA All-America honors in 2014 (second team) and 2015 (third team). Joining de Vries on the 2015 All-American squad were RMU's Neco Brett and St. Francis Brooklyn's Vincent Bezecourt, both third team honorees.
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