Duggan is doing Mass. Maritime proud
September 24, 2008
By Jennifer Toland, Worcester Telegram & Gazette Sports
Massachusetts Maritime Academy picked the perfect spokesman for its new TV and Internet commercial.
Senior Matt Duggan of Worcester is articulate, polite, diligent, disciplined and, just like the school's promotional video suggests, well-rounded.
Not only does Duggan captain the Buccaneers' soccer team, he serves as regimental commander, a most prestigious appointment and the highest-ranking student position at the academy. Duggan is in charge of the academy's 1,100 cadets and serves as a liaison between them and the school's administration.
"It's something I've aspired to do since I've been here," said Duggan, who went through a lengthy application and interview process for the position. "I thought of the experience I could gain and how beneficial it would be to me when I graduate. It's been a great experience."
Mass. Maritime, established in 1891, is the oldest continuous state maritime academy in the country and combines a unique regimented lifestyle with a typical four-year college environment.
Duggan said his duties as regimental commander consume about two hours of his busy day, beginning with running morning formation and raising the colors at 6:30. He also was in charge of orientation for the Class of 2012. Duggan is majoring in emergency management and takes six classes. He did an internship with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and may pursue a career with FEMA.
Duggan's brother, Brendan, is a graduate of Mass. Maritime and they were soccer teammates there for one year. Brendan currently is second mate on an RORO vessel. Their older brother, James, a WPI graduate, lives and works in New York.
"Having my older brother here pushed me toward the academy," said Duggan, a St. John's High graduate, "and I liked its reputation for academics and job placement after graduation."
Duggan was a 2006 All-MASCAC selection after scoring seven goals and five assists. His 2007 season ended just eight games in when he suffered a broken leg in the Bucs' game against UMass-Dartmouth on Oct. 2. Duggan suffered a broken tibia and fibula in a collision with a goalkeeper.
After surgery to insert a titanium rod, he went through six months of recovery and rehab.
"I'm OK now," Duggan said. "It hasn't hindered me this season."
Duggan, a center-midfielder, has scored a goal and has an assist for the 2-5 Buccaneers, a young team with 15 underclassmen on the roster. Duggan, a second-year captain, brings experience and strength and is being counted on as a leader on the field as well.
Duggan was a T&G Division 1 All-Star while at St. John's and helped the Pioneers to the Central Mass. championship his junior year. As a senior captain, Duggan led St. John's to the CMass final.
In the academy's commercial - which you can watch on www.mmabucs.com - Duggan appears in both his cadet and soccer uniforms, and asks: "Think you know Mass. Maritime Academy? Think again." The video presentation then goes through snippets of students on campus, in the classroom, at sea, in the dining hall, and on athletic fields. Duggan has experienced the academy, and he knows it and represents it well.
"I enjoy it here quite a bit," he said.