Stony Brook and
UMBC, the two teams picked to miss the America East Men's Soccer
Championship in the preseason coaches' poll, will meet for the
conference title after thrilling semifinal contests Wednesday.
The Retrievers dealt New Hampshire its first loss against an America
East opponent this season with a 2-1 victory in Durham, while the
Seawolves played Hartford to a scoreless tie and advanced 3-2 on
penalty kicks at LaValle Stadium.
UMBC (14-5-0) jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead when Mark Lubetkin took a
feed from Levi Houapeu, the America East Midfielder of the Year, and
beat UNH goalkeeper Colin O'Donnell low to his left from 30 yards out.
The Retrievers, who scored a league best 39 goals in the regular
season, added to their advantage just before the half. America East
Striker of the Year Andrew Bulls served a corner kick through the box
to teammate Milo Kapor, who one-timed a blast home.
UNH (9-7-2) narrowed the gap to one just 10:40 into the second half.
Chris Banks, a first-team all-conference forward, banged home his
eighth goal of the year but the Wildcats could not get another and UMBC
became just the second No. 5 seed to reach the title game.
Stony Brook (5-9-4), which is playing in its first final since 2005,
played Hartford (8-8-2) scoreless for 110 minutes behind six saves from
goalkeeper Anthony Rogic, an America East all-rookie selection. Both
teams made their first two shootout attempts before Rogic saved
Hartford's third attempt. Hawk keeper Nenad Cudic, who made seven saves
in the game, kept his team even with a stop on Stony Brook's third try.
But, Hartford's Sam Groves hit the post on his kick and Stony Brook's
Oscar Leis beat Cudic to give his team a 3-2 advantage, which Rogic
made stand up.
UMBC and Stony Brook will meet for the championship on Sunday, Nov. 15
at LaValle Stadium on Long Island with an NCAA tournament bid on the
line. Free live video streaming will be available at the new
AmericaEast.tv.
2009 America East Men's Soccer Championship
Saturday, November 7 -- Quarterfinals
Game 1: at No. 3 Hartford 2, No. 6 Boston University 1 BOX SCORE
Game 2: No. 5 UMBC 2, at No. 4 Binghamton 1 BOX SCORE
Wednesday, November 11 -- Semifinals
Game 3: UMBC 2, at No. 1 New Hampshire 1 BOX SCORE
Game 4: at No. 2 Stony Brook 0, Hartford 0 BOX SCORE
Sunday, November 15 -- Final
Game 5: UMBC at Stony Brook, 5 p.m. LIVE STATS | WATCH