ALBANY, N.Y.-- Fourth-seeded UMBC and second-seeded Boston University will meet for the 2010 America East Women's Lacrosse Championship crown on Saturday after their semifinal victories on Thursday afternoon at University at Albany's John Fallon Field.
UMBC (11-6) upset top-seeded Albany (13-3), 11-9, in the first semifinal, while the Terriers (10-8) defeated University of New Hampshire (10-7), the three seed in the tournament, by a 10-6 score in the day's second semifinal.
UMBC picked up its first-ever America East Championship victory since joining the conference in its first appearance in the tournament since 2006. Albany was the last four seed to upset the tourney's top seed when the Great Danes upended number one seed Stony Brook in the 2007 America East Championship.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Terriers will be making their 12th straight appearance in the league's title game and gunning for their sixth straight America East Championship trophy.
Sophomore Emily Coady paced the Retrievers with a game-high four goals, three of which came in the second half, helping the Retrievers to come back from a 5-2 halftime deficit. Coady added three ground balls, while junior Amanda Pappas registered two goals, three draw controls, two caused turnovers and one ground ball.
Albany netminder Ashley Ross made 15 saves, while her UMBC counterpart Kate Quick stopped eight shots on goal.
In the day's second game, Terrier Traci Landy paced the attack, notching a hat trick. Her two second-half goals were Boston U.'s only two after halftime as UNH outscored them 5-2 in the final 30 minutes of the game. Fellow senior Xan Weitzel registered three assists and a goal to lead all players with four points. UNH goalie Kathleen O'Keefe and Boston U. goalie Rachel Klein each made five saves for their respective squads.
The Terriers outshot the Wildcats for the game, 20-15, but New Hampshire had the slight edge in ground balls, 12-10, and draw controls, 9-8.
Saturday's title game will be streamed live at 1 p.m. from John Fallon Field at www.AmericaEast.TV. The stream will be available for free and will feature Chris Villani on play by play and Ben Altsher doing the color analysis.