CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The top-two seeds in the America East Women's Soccer Championship will battle for the title and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, as No. 1 seed UMBC hosts No. 2 seed Stony Brook on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. at Retriever Soccer Park.
It is the 11th time in 20 years of the America East tournament where the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds will meet in the final. The No. 1 seed has won the matchup nine times in the 10 prior meetings.
It has been a season of firsts for UMBC (12-5-3, 6-2-0), which set a program record with 12 wins after defeating Hartford, 2-0, in the semifinals. The Retrievers captured their first co-regular season title, earned their first America East major award (co-Midfielder of the Year Jessy Brown and Coaching Staff of the Year), won their first tournament game and will make their first trip to the America East title game.
The Retrievers defeated Hartford in the semifinals to advance to the championship game. Alexa Quaranta and Morgan Taylor each scored in the first half, and Lauren Kadet made four stops to preserve the shutout.
Stony Brook (11-5-2, 6-2-0) also earned its first co-regular season crown, tying with UMBC with 18 points in conference play. The Seawolves were the first team to win the America East tournament as a No. 6 seed last year and will make their third appearance in a title game on Saturday night. The Seawolves
Stony Brook beat Maine in penalty kicks behind an America East tournament record 16 saves by goalkeeper Ashley Castanio. Leah Yurko had the goal in regulation for Stony Brook while Maxie New, Larissa Nysch and Caitlin Pfeiffer all converted in penalty kicks.
The No. 1 seed has now advaned to the championship game 16-straight years and in 19 of the 20 title matches. Overall, the No. 1 seed is 15-2-1 all-time in the championship, including winning the one tie in penalty kicks. The only losses for No. 1 seeds came last season, when No. 6 Stony Brook beat No. 1 Hartford, and in 2007 when No. 2 Boston U. defeated No. 1 New Hampshire.