No. 1 Binghamton University and No. 2 University of Vermont have won its respective semifinal games and are moving on to play for the America East Championship on Saturday at 1 p.m. The winner will earn an automatic bid into the NCAA College Cup. Vermont earned a 1-0 win over No. 3 New Hampshire, while Binghamton used a 6-5 advantage in penalty kicks to break a 1-1 deadlock after two overtimes.
Vermont returns to the America East title title game for the first time since 2002, while Binghamton returns to the championship game for the fourth-straight year, while Bearcats ended the Terriers season on penalty kicks for the second-straight season.
The Catamounts scored just 10 minutes in and made it stand up in their 1-0 win over No. 3 New Hampshire. Sophomore Lee Stephane Kouadio (Woodlyn, Penn./Ridley) netted a goal setup by Jordan Crasilneck (Eugene, Ore./Sheldon) and T.J. Gore (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) at the start of the 10th minute.
UVM goalkeeper Roger Scully (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) made four saves en route to the shutout, while UNH’s Brian Levey (Pittsbugh, Pa./North Allegheny) registered two saves.
Vermont improves to 9-6-4 overall, while New Hampshire closes out 2006 12-5-3 overall.
Boston U. got the scoring started as Petur Sigurdsson (Hafnarfjordur, Iceland/Commercial Coll. of Iceland) scored on a give-and-go setup by Jin Oh (Dededo, Guam/St. Stephen’s Episcopal School (Texas)) at 22:11. The game remained 1-0 until Binghamton netted the equalizer at 78:04 when Joey Neilson scored on a header assisted by Cody Germain.
Barry Neville (Glasgow, Scotland/Mearns Castle), Liam Carson (Broxburn, Scotland/Montagu Secondary), Matt Narode (Glenmont, N.Y./Bethlehem Central), Mark Wood (Lincolnshire, England/Virginia Intermont), Peter Sgueglia (Schenectady, N.Y./Albany Univ.), and Kyle Kucharski (Maine, N.Y./ Maine Endwell) all scored on penalty kicks for Binghamton, while Sigurdsson, Zach Kirby (Marietta, Ga./Pope), Neil Hlavaty (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East), Derek Puerta (Pawtucket, R.I./William E. Tulman), and Richy Dorman (Flintshire, Wales/Hawarden)scored for the Terriers.
In the end, it was a Jason Stenta (Binghamton, N.Y./ Chenango Valley) save of a Paul Mignogna (Tarrytown, N.Y./Sleepy Hollow) penalty kick that sealed the win for the Bearcats. Stenta finished with six saves, while Boston U.’s Zach Riffett (Brenham, Texas/Brenham) had three saves.
Binghamton improves to 9-6-5 overall, while Boston University finishes 10-5-5 overall.
Live scoreboards for all rounds of the 2006 America East Men’s Soccer Championship will be available over the internet via Championship LIVE! at the conference’s official website www.AmericaEast.com.
2006 America East Men’s Soccer Championship
First Round: Sunday, October 29
Game 1: No. 5 Boston U. 1, at No. 4 Albany 0 (2OT)
Game 2: at No. 3 New Hampshire 4, No. 6 Stony Brook 0
Semifinals: Wednesday, November 1
Game 3: No. 5 Boston U. 1, at No. 1 Binghamton 1 (Binghamton advances on PKs, 6-5)
Game 4: at No. 2 Vermont 1, No. 3 New Hampshire 0
Championship Game at West Gym Field (at Binghamton University - Vestal, N.Y.)
Saturday, November 4
Game 5: No. 2 Vermont at No. 1 Binghamton, 1 p.m.