STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The top-two seeds in the 2013 America East Women’s Lacrosse Championship will meet in the title game as No. 1 Stony Brook and No. 2 Albany each won their semifinal matchups on Friday night at LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, N.Y. The Seawolves defeated No. 4 seed Vermont, 18-4, in the first semifinal, while the Great Danes topped No. 3 seed New Hampshire, 13-6, in the second game of the day.
It is the second-straight year the Great Danes and Seawolves will meet for the title, with Albany winning a 9-7 final last season.
Stony Brook and Albany will meet for the conference title on Sunday at noon at LaValle Stadium. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN3 and via the WatchESPN app with Eric Frede and Leah Secondo on the call.
No. 1 Stony Brook 18, No. 4 Vermont 4
The No. 10/7 ranked Stony Brook Seawolves advanced to their second-straight women’s lacrosse championship game with an 18-4 win over the No. 4 seed Vermont Catamounts in the first semifinal game at Stony Brook’s LaValle Stadium on Friday afternoon.
Stony Brook midfielder and America East Co-Player of the Year Demmianne Cook notched a record-setting performance, breaking the single game tournament scoring record with seven goals to lead the Seawolves to the second-largest margin of victory in an America East Championship game. The only team to have a larger margin of victory was the 2002 New Hampshire Wildcats, who defeated Vermont 21-5 in a semifinal game.
In the process, Cook also broke the Stony Brook women’s lacrosse program career goals mark with her 151st career score.
The Seawolves outshot Vermont 36-17 for the game, including 26-9 in the first half. Stony Brook also dominated defensively with 17 ground balls compared to nine for Vermont, while First Team All-Conference goalkeeper Frankie Caridi made 10 saves in net.
After the teams traded goals in the early stages of the contest, Vermont took its only lead of the game on a Jessica Roach score with 20:38 remaining in the first half.
The Stony Brook defense clamped down for the remainder of the frame, shutting out the Catamounts over the final 20 minutes. In that span, Stony Brook scored 11-straight goals, six from Cook while four other Seawolves also found the back of the cage. Stony Brook took a 12-2 lead into halftime.
Vermont would not get within 10 goals for the rest of the game, breaking a 12-goal run by Stony Brook on a tally from Vanessa VanderZalm with 27:11 remaining in the half that put the deficit at 13-3.
The Seawolves finished the game four-of-five in free position shots and forced 18 Catamount turnovers. Stony Brook will play for a chance to win its first America East tournament title after falling in the final to Albany last year.
No. 2 Albany 13, No. 3 New Hampshire 6
No. 2 seed Albany used a strong defensive effort to advance to its third-straight America East title game with a 13-6 win over No. 3 seed New Hampshire.
The Great Danes forced 18 New Hampshire turnovers while also holding a 19-10 advantage in ground balls to stifle the Wildcat attack. Albany also outshot New Hampshire 23-16 in the contest.
America East Co-Player of the Year Rachael Burek led the Great Danes with five points, scoring four goals (all in the second half) to go with one assist. Co-Rookie of the Year Rachel Bowles tallied three goals, all coming in the first half, while Jess Antelmi, Nichole Eamer and Allie Phelan had two apiece.
New Hampshire also was led by a freshman as Co-Rookie of the Year Laura McHoul had two goals and three assists to lead the way.
The first half was all about the America East Co-Rookies of the Year, as Albany’s Bowles and New Hampshire’s McHoul were the stars. Bowles had all three of her goals, while McHoul had three points (2 g, 1 a).
McHoul started the scoring four minutes into the contest to give New Hampshire a 1-0 lead and what would prove to be the only lead of the contest for the Wildcats.
Bowles responded with a pair of scores, including a free position goal that put Albany on top 2-1 with 21:13 left in the first half.
All-Academic team selection Kayleigh Hinkle knotted the game at two apiece on an assist from McHoul with just over 20 minutes to go in the half before a 14-minute scoring drought from both sides.
Eamer ended the scoreless spell by giving Albany a 3-2 lead with 6:07 remaining in the half. Bowles then tallied her third of the half to give Albany its biggest lead of the game at 4-2. The teams traded goals before the end of the half as the Great Danes went into the locker room with a 5-3 lead.
After a quiet first half, Burek got on the board quickly in the second half, scoring her first of four second half goals just a minute and a half into the frame to put Albany on top by three goals.
New Hampshire continue to answer each of Albany’s goals, staying within striking distance as Amber Casiano fired a shot into the upper 90 from the left side with 15:39 remaining that kept the Wildcats within three, trailing 9-6.
The Great Danes shut out the Wildcats from that point, scoring the final four goals with four different players finding the back of the net.
Albany will look to become the third team in America East history to win three-straight titles on Sunday when the Great Danes battle No. 1 seed and host Stony Brook at noon on ESPN3.