Two America East men's soccer teams will get one step closer to an America East title Wednesday when the semifinals of the conference championship take place.
No. 1 UMBC will host No. 5 Vermont in one semifinal match while No. 2 Hartford entertains No. 3 Binghamton in the other with trips to the America East title game on the line. Both games will begin at 7:00 p.m. and air on AmericaEaast.TV for free.
UMBC (10-5-3), the two-time defending league champion, is appearing in the semifinals for the fifth time in six seasons and looking to reach its fifth America East final in six years as well. The Retrievers, the league’s regular-season champion, is unbeaten in its last 22 games against America East foes (19-0-4), which is a league record.
Vermont (8-8-2) knocked off fourth-seeded Albany, 2-1, in the quarterfinals on Saturday to earn a trip to the semifinals for the first time since 2008. Bernard Yeboah’s goal with just four minutes left lifted the Catamounts to the win Saturday.
The UMBC-Vermont matchup features the two top scorers in the league. The Retrievers’ Kay Banjo, America East’s Striker of the Year, leads the conference with 20 points while the Catamounts’ Brian Wright, a first-team all-leaguer, is the top goal scorer with nine. UMBC beat Vermont soundly on Nov. 2, 5-1.
Hartford (10-5-2) is riding a five-game winning streak into the semifinals. The Hawks, who lead America East with a 0.91 team goals against average, are seeking their third title game appearance in four seasons and their seventh overall.
Binghamton (5-13-1) is in the semis for the first time since 2008 after beating Stony Brook in a shootout Saturday in the quarterfinals. The Bearcats improved to 5-2 all time in the tournament in penalty shootouts.
The matchup features two of the top goaltenders in the league. Robert Moewes, who made three key stops on penalty kicks Saturday, is the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year while Hartford’s David MacKinnon is the second-team netminder. Binghamton won the regular-season meeting between the two teams on Oct. 4, 1-0, on Steve Celeste’s goal.
The two teams that advance will play for the league title and an automatic NCAA bid on Saturday at the highest remaining seed.
Visit America East's Championship Central throughout the tournament for links to quarterfinal recaps and highlights, semifinal in-game coverage, postgame reaction and much more.