CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The path to crowning an America East Field Hockey champion starts Thursday with semifinal action from Albany. The top-seeded Great Danes, the league's regular-season champion, hosts No. 4 Fairfield at 1 p.m. while No. 2 New Hampshire battles No. 3 Maine at 4 p.m. Both games will streamed for free on AmericaEast.TV.
Albany (16-2, 5-0 AE), the 14th-ranked team in the country, is riding a 10-game winning streak entering the tournament. The Great Danes are seeking their fourth league title in seven years. Fairfield (7-11, 2-3 AE) is aiming for its first America East Championship win in its third tournament appearance. The Stags gave the Great Danes all they could handle on Oct. 18, nearly upsetting Albany before falling, 2-1.
The matchup will feature two of the top scorers in the nation. Albany's Paula Heuser, the America East Midfielder of the Year, is tops in the country averaging 3.3 points per game (59 total). Fairfield counters with Offensive Player of the Year Ann Burgoyne, whose 19 goals, rank second only to Heuser in the conference and her 1.1 goals per game is sixth-best in the country.
New Hampshire (7-11, 4-1 AE) locked up the No. 2 seed with a 3-2 overtime win against Maine (10-8, 3-2 AE) just last weekend. The Wildcats have won five their last six entering the tournament, while the Black Bears, who were nationally ranked earlier in the year, ran off eight-straight wins at one point this season. The two teams are meeting in the tournament for the first time 2010.
All-conference standouts Annabelle Hamilton, Danielle Aviani and Holly Stewart have scored 28 of Maine’s 49 goals this year. UNH's Carlie Tarbell, a second-team all-conference selection at goalkeeper, will be tasked with trying to contain that trio.
Thursday's winners will meet for the league title on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Albany.
For complete tournament information, including the bracket, live coverage links, tournament history and more, visit Championship Central.
2014 America East Field Hockey Championship
All games at University at Albany’s Alumni Turf Field, Albany, N.Y.
Semifinals - Thursday, November 6
#1 Albany vs. #4 Fairfield, 1 p.m.
#2 New Hampshire vs. #3 Maine, 4 p.m.
Final - Saturday, November 8
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m.