The race for the America East Women's Lacrosse Championship began Saturday as four teams opened their America East slates, and two more start up on Sunday. The conference schedule includes a six-game round-robin format. The top four teams in the regular season standings will advance to the single-elimination America East Championship held at the site of the highest seed on May 5-7. The winner of the America East Championship receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.
Boston University (5-4, 1-0 America East) began its quest for its seventh straight title on Saturday with a 15-6 win at home against Binghamton (2-8, 0-1 AE). UMBC (7-3, 1-0 AE), which won its first ever America East Championship semifinal game last year and advanced to meet the Terriers in the 2010 title game, also started its 2011 conference campaign with a home win against New Hampshire (5-4, 0-1 AE).
The opening weekend of conference play continues on Sunday when two freshman standouts square off when Stony Brook (3-5) travels to face Vermont (4-4) in each team's conference opener in Burlington. Vermont freshman Sydney Mas (29 points) and Stony Brook rookie Alyssa Cardillo (21 points) are both among the league leaders in scoring.
Recent Results
Saturday, March 26
*at UMBC 10, New Hampshire 8 -- Box Score
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UMBC
(7-3, 1-0 America East) scored eight first-half goals, including a 5-0 run over an 11-minute span to get past New Hampshire (5-4, 0-1 AE) in the conference opener for both teams.
- The Retrievers converted four of their six free-position opportunities, including 4-of-5 in the first half. The Wildcats attempted just two free-position shots, converting one.
- UMBC held a slight, 19-18 edge in total shots while both teams put 14 shots on net.
- New Hampshire committed 27 fouls on the afternoon compared to just 10 fouls against UMBC.
- UMBC midfielders Amanda Pappas and Alicia Krause each scored four points on three goals and one assist. Attack Erika Braerman also added a hat trick.
- A trio of Wildcats scored a pair of goals, led by midfielder Hayley Rausch, who scored two goals to go along with two assists. Midfielders Kate Keagins and Ilana Cohen also tallied two goals each.
*at Boston University 15, Binghamton 6 -- Box Score
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Boston University (5-4, 1-0 AE) outscored Binghamton (2-8, 0-1 AE), 9-2, in the second half to grab a home win in the America East opener for
both teams.
- The Terriers outshot the Bearcats, 30-12, including 23-9 in shots on goal.
- Boston U. took 17-of-23 draws and held a 15-13 advantage in ground balls.
- The Terriers converted 4-of-7 free-position shots while the Bearcats went 0-for-2 on their free-position attempts.
- Boston U. attacks Danielle Etrasco and Hannah Frey each tallied four goals to lead the Terrier offense.
- Senior attack Erica Baumgartner dished out two assists and is now has 108 helpers in her career, tying her for first-place all-time in assists at Boston U. with Mary Beth Miller.
- Binghamton was led by junior attack Lis Zuern, who scored three goals for the Bearcats. Midfielder Beth Moore added a pair of late goals for the Bearcats while Lizzie Wright added two points on one goal and one assist.
Upcoming Action
Sunday, March 27
Oregon at No. 14/11 Albany, 12 p.m.- Live Stats
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No.14/11 Albany looks to continue its undefeated
start to the 2011 season when it hosts the University of Oregon in the
first-ever meeting between the two programs.
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The Great Danes were scheduled to face Colgate
on March 23, but the game was postponed due to weather. At this point, no
makeup date has been announced. At 6-0, the Great Danes are off to their best
start as a Division I program.
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Senior attack Taylor Frink leads the Great Danes
with a team-high 31 points on 18 goals and 13 assists. Frink has also scooped
up a team-high 17 ground balls.
*Stony Brook at Vermont, 12 p.m.- Live Video
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In the opening game of America East play for
both teams, Stony Brook (3-5, 0-0 America East) hits the road for a matchup with
Vermont (4-4, 0-0 America East).
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The meeting between these teams last season came
down to the final seconds, with senior midfielder Melissa Cook netting a goal
with just two seconds remaining to propel Stony Brook to the 11-10 win.
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Freshman midfielder Sydney Mas has made a huge
impact in her debut season for the Catamounts, as she leads the team with 29
points on a team-high 24 goals and five assists.
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The Seawolves are led by the combination of
freshman attack Alyssa Cardillo and senior midfielder Melissa Cook, who have
scored 23 and 22 points respectively this season. Cardillo has dished out a
team-high 15 assists, while Cook leads Stony Brook with 20 goals.
*America East Conference Game