Cambridge, Mass.--
With teams and seeds still uncertain entering the weekend, the field and matchups for the 2011 America East Women's Lacrosse Championship May 5 and 7 are finally set. University at Albany, which completed the first undefeated regular season (15-0) in America East history on Saturday, is the number one seed and will host the tournament for the second straight year at John Fallon Field.
Boston University, University of New Hampshire, University of Vermont and Binghamton University all entered the final weekend of conference play facing must-win scenarios, and the Terriers and Wildcats rose to the occasion.
Boston U. (8-8 overall, 4-2 America East records), the six-time defending conference champion, defeated Vermont on Saturday, 16-8, behind sophomore Danielle Etrasco's record-setting nine goals. Etrasco broke the program's single-game scoring record while tying the conference mark. The Terriers finished in a tie for second-place with UMBC, but based on an earlier season 13-9 victory over the Retrievers, Boston U. claimed the two seed.
With a chance to earn a share of the regular-season title and hosting rights for the tournament, UMBC (10-6, 4-2) fell to Albany on Saturday, 12-11. The Retrievers improve on last year's four seed and will play as the three seed in 2010. UMBC will play Boston U. in Thursday's second semifinal at 3:30p in a rematch of last year's championship game.
The Great Danes (15-0, 6-0) hope to continue their unblemished season and reach the conference championship bout for the first time since 2007. Albany has never won the tournament crown since joining America East in 2001.
Fourth-seeded New Hampshire (8-8, 3-3) will face top-seeded Albany in a 1p semifinal on Thursday. The Wildcats earned a bid the conference tournament with a second-half rally against Binghamton on Sunday afternoon. Down 10-5 in the second half, UNH ended the game on a 7-0 run to capture a 12-10 victory. The Wildcats have now qualified for a league-best 14 straight conference tournaments.
The winners of both semifinals will meet on Saturday, May 7 at 1p. The conference champion will earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The final on Saturday will be streamed live for free at the America East Zone in partnership with Pack Network.
Single-session tickets are available day of game at Albany. Admission for adults is $8, $5 for youth 14 and under, and $2 for America East students with school ID.
2011 America East Women's Lacrosse Championship
All games at John Fallon Field, Albany, N.Y.
Thursday, May 5
#4 New Hampshire at #1 Albany, 1p
#3 UMBC vs. #2 Boston U., 3:30p
Saturday, May 7
Semifinal winners, 1p