CAMBRIDGE, Mass.
-- The matchups for the 2011 America East Men's Lacrosse Championship are set after Saturday's action in which Hartford knocked off UMBC, 10-6, to earn the No. 2 seed, its best finish since 2003. In other action, Binghamton knocked off Albany, 9-8, to finish in a three-way tie for second place while Stony Brook upended Vermont, 12-9, to secure its second consecutive outright America East regular-season crown.
The four-team championship will begin with semifinal action on Wednesday, May 4 when top-seeded Stony Brook (9-3 overall, 5-0 America East) hosts fourth-seeded Binghamton (7-7, 3-2) in one contest and second-seeded Hartford (9-6, 3-2) hosts third-seeded UMBC (6-6, 3-2) in the other. Both games will start at 7 p.m. with the winners advancing to the championship game, which will be played on Saturday, May 7 at the higher remaining seed and televised nationally on CBS Sports Network at 3 p.m.
In West Hartford, the Hawks, who will be making their first tournament appearance since 2003, outscored the Retrievers 6-2 in the second half to earn the win and finish at 3-2 in the league. Despite finishing tied with both UMBC and Binghamton, Hartford secured home field advantage for the semifinals by virtue of its plus-2 goal differential in games against the Retrievers and Bearcats. Junior midfielder Carter Bender recorded a game-high four points on three goals and an assist for the Hawks. Junior attacker Russ Grimm had a goal and two assists for UMBC.
Senior attacker Jordan McBride scored four times to lead Stony Brook past Vermont (6-9, 1-4). With the win, Stony Brook, which is ranked 14th in the USILA Coaches' Poll and 13th in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, earned a perfect 5-0 conference mark becoming the first team to accomplish the feat in consecutive seasons since Hofstra did it in three straight from 1996-98. Junior attack Geoff Worley had two goals and two assists for Vermont, which concludes its season at 6-9.
Freshman attacker Brandon Planck scored two goals, including the game-winner with just 20 seconds remaining, to lift Binghamton over Albany (5-10, 0-5 AE), 9-8. The Bearcats' three conference wins are their most since the 2007 season. Albany, which got two goals from junior midfielder Joe Resetarits, will miss the tournament for the first time in 10 seasons as an America East member.
Tickets for the two semifinal contests can be purchased through the Stony Brook and Hartford UMBC ticket offices. Prices are $8 for adults, $5 for youth and $2 for students of America East institutions with proper ID. Tickets for the Stony Brook-Binghamton semi can be purchased online
or by calling the box office at 631-632-WOLF (9653). Tickets for the Hartford-UMBC semi may be obtained by calling the Hartford box office at 860-768-HAWK (4295).