CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- University of New Hampshire won its first outright America East field hockey regular season championship for the first time since 2000 to earn the top seed for the 2010 America East Championship. The Wildcats will host the four-team tournament for the first time in program history on Friday, November 5 and Saturday, November 6.
#1 New Hampshire
and #4 Maine will meet in one semifinal game on Friday, November 5 at
Memorial Field, and #2 Albany and #3 Boston U. will meet in the other. The
winners will meet for the championship on Saturday, November 6. The
America East tournament champion will host the winner of the Northeast
Conference in an NCAA play-in game on Tuesday, November 9.
The Wildcats (13-6 overall, 5-0 in America East), who at #20 entered the NFHCA national poll this week for the first time since the 2000 season, earned hosting rights with a 4-1 defeat of Albany today in Durham, N.H. The Great Danes (13-5) fell to 4-1 in league play and will enter the postseason as the second seed.
Boston U. (10-7, 3-2) went into extra sessions for the second time in as many games, but dropped Maine (13-5, 2-3) on Saturday by a 2-1 score in overtime. Sophomore Jacinda McLeod scored the game-winning goal just 1:25 beyond regulation. The Terriers earned the third seed in the tournament with the win, while the Black Bears wound up in the fourth slot for the championship.
Tournament Tidbits: This is the second consecutive year that these four teams have comprised the championship field... The semifinal match between Albany and Boston U. is a rematch of last year's final, which the Terriers won, 4-1, for the program's eighth overall America East crown... UNH won a share of the regular season championship in 2002, tied with Northeastern, but was the #2 seed for the championship. Along with the 2000 squad, the 2010 Wildcats are just the second team in program history to earn the tournament's #1 seed... New Hampshire is the first team since the 2007 Terriers to go undefeated in America East play with a 5-0 record... Three of the four tournament participants are ranked in the NFHCA Division I Poll (Albany - #15, Boston U. - #16, UNH - #20), while the fourth (Maine) is among the top teams receiving votes... All four tournament participants have double-digit marks in the win column.
2010 America East Field Hockey Championship
All games at Memorial Field, Durham, N.H. - Hosted by University of New Hampshire
Friday, November 5 - Semifinals
#1 New Hampshire vs. #4 Maine, TBD
#2 Albany vs. #3 Boston U., TBD
Saturday, November 6 - Final
Semifinal #1 winner vs. Semifinal #2 winner, TBD