DURHAM, N.H. -- For the second time in three seasons and third in the last five, New Hampshire and Albany will decide the America East field hockey title as both teams earned semifinal wins Friday at UNH's Memorial Field to advance to Sunday's championship game.
New Hampshire, the tournament's top seed, survived a scare from fourth-seeded Fairfield, prevailing 3-2 in overtime in the day's first semifinal, while second-seeded Albany beat third-seeded Maine, 4-1, in the second semi. The two teams will meet for the championship on Sunday at 12 p.m. The game will be video streamed live free of charge at AmericaEast.com.
In the first semifinal, New Hampshire (12-7) lost a 2-0 lead to Fairfield (10-10), but Meg Flatley's overtime score gave the Wildcats a trip to the league's title game for the third straight year and fourth in the last five.
The Wildcats, the nation's 19th-ranked team, took a 2-0 lead into the locker room after scores by Mary Quill and Megan Bozek. Quill, whose goal was her first of the year, re-directed a shot from Flatley into the top left-hand side of the cage in the 16th minute and Bozek, the America East Defensive Player of the Year, tucked a shot inside the near post in the 31st minute.
The Stags, who threatened to become the first No. 4 seed to reach the title game since 1994, rallied with two second-half scores to force overtime. Felicitas Heinen, the conference's leading scorer, tallied her 16th goal of the year on a penalty stroke in the 42nd minute to draw her team within one. Heinen then set up the game tying score 12:19 later as Christy Starsinic tipped in her feed to tie the game 2-2 and force the extra session.
That score held until Flatley, an America East all-rookie choice, ended it at the 79:07 mark on her ninth score of the year to send the Wildcats, who outshot Stags 20-5, to the final.
In the nightcap, Albany (12-7) scored twice in each half to down Maine (10-9) and advance to its sixth title game in seven years. Daphne Voormolen, the league's Co-Offensive Player of the Year, scored three times while teammate Jessica Longstreth added a goal and three assists to fuel the win. Voormolen's three goals and Longstreth's three assists each tied the single-game tournament record.
Voormolen struck early for the 21st-ranked Great Danes, scoring in the seventh minute as fellow first-team all-conference standouts Longstreth and Corrine McConville set her up on a penalty corner. The junior forward struck again with just 5:08 left in the first half when Longstreth fed her on the left side and she beat Maine keeper Alicia Frisch.
Maine, the 23rd-ranked team in the nation, cut the deficit to 2-1 early in the second half. America East all-rookie choice Nicole Sevey scored off a feed from Co-Offensive Player of the Year Annabelle Hamilton in the 44th minute.
But Albany, which is vying for its third America East crown in five years, responded with two goals in a 1:14 span to put the game away. First, Longstreth scored her eighth of the year in the 47th minute and then recorded her third assist of the day and 17th of the year by setting up Voormolen in the 48th minute for her third tally of day and 13th of the year.
This will be the third time Albany and New Hampshire will play for the America East crown. The Great Dane won the previous two meetings, including a 3-2 overtime decision in 2010. UNH won this year's regular-season meeting between the two teams by the 2-1 in overtime. Coverage for Sunday's will begin at 12 p.m. on AmericaEast.com.
Visit Championship Central for complete tournament coverage, including box scores, highlights and live coverage links for Sunday's final.