No. 1 seed Hartford and No. 3 New Hampshire will meet in the 2014 America East Women's Soccer title game after winning their respective semifinal matches on Sunday afternoon. The top-seeded Hawks beat No. 4 Albany, 1-0, while third-seeded New Hampshire defeated No. 2 UMBC, 6-5, in a shootout after a 1-1 draw in regulation. The two teams will face-off on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 3 p.m. in West Hartford, Conn. It will the the fourth different champion crowned in the last four years. Recap both games:
No. 3 New Hampshire 1, No. 2 UMBC 1
(New Hampshire advances, 6-5, on penalty kicks)
Box Score
The No. 3 seed New Hampshire Wildcats won their second-straight shootout in the America East Championship, slipping past No. 2 UMBC in Baltimore, Md., on Sunday afternoon to advance to their third title game in program history.
After a 1-1 draw in regulation and two overtime sessions, the Wildcats won the shootout, 6-5, in seven rounds. The win brings New Hampshire to the America East final for the first time since 2007. It is the first time in conference tournament history a team has gone to penalty kicks in back-to-back games.
Second-seeded and reigning America East champion, UMBC, struck first in the match, as Amira Walcott one-timed a corner kick from Morgan Taylor over the head of UNH goalkeeper Mimi Borkan in the eighth minute. The score was the second of the season for America East All-Conference First Team selection, while the assist marked Taylor’s career-best fifth of the year.
The Retrievers held the 1-0 late into the second half, but the Wildcats were able to draw even in the 82nd minute of play. Freshman Brooke Murphy scored her second goal of the tournament on a shot from almost an impossible angle, following a pass from Caroline Murray to make it, 1-1.
The two teams, who had combined for 27 shots in regulation, tallied just three attempts in the two overtime periods. Each goalkeeper made a save in the opening five penalty kicks, but it was a save in the seventh round by UNH's Borkan that proved to be the difference, sending the Wildcats to the title game.
UMBC finished the season 12-4-3 while UNH moves to 7-8-4 and will face top-seeded Hartford in the title game on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 3 p.m. in West Hartford.
No. 1 Hartford 1, No. 4 Albany 0
Box Score
Top-seeded Hartford will make its second trip to the America East title game in the last three seasons after edging out No. 4 Albany, 1-0, at Al-Marzook Field on Sunday afternoon. The Hawks' become the 17th-straight No. 1 seed to advance to the America East women's soccer final.
The Hawks wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, tallying just 40 seconds into the game. All-Conference selection Sidney Spremullo took a pass from Elise Galipo on the left side of the box and used one-touch to get past the defender before firing a shot into the roof of the net to make it, 1-0, Hartford.
That is the the home team would need as a strong defensive effort and four saves from keeper Jessica Jurg made the goal stand-up.
Albany goalkeeper Alana Brennan kept the Great Danes in the game in the first half as Hartford outshot the away side, 10-4, through the first 45. Brennan robbed Chanel Johnson in the 20th minute, and then made another diving stop on Kristen McAdams in the 24th minute.
Johnson came within inches of an insurance goal late in the first half, hitting the post in the 39th minute of play.
Albany found a better offensive groove in the second half, earning three corner kicks in the session. The Great Danes had solid pressure for a 12-minute span in the period, with Vivian Vega and Leanne Miller each having shots stopped by Jurg during that stretch.
Albany finished the season 7-9-5 while Hartford moves to 10-3-5 and looks for its eighth tournament title next Saturday, Nov. 8, vs. New Hampshire at 3 p.m. in West Hartford, Conn.