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 Albany will host No. 5 Binghamton in one semifinal match while No. 2 Vermont entertains No. 3 UMBC in the other with trips to the America East final on the line. Both games will begin at 7:00 p.m. and air on AmericaEast.TV.
The two advancing squads will square off for the America East title and a trip to the NCAA tournament, where America East teams have advanced to the second round in 11 of the last 13 years, including UMBC’s run all the way to the College Cup a year ago. The title tilt will be Sunday at the higher seed. Time is TBD. The game will be shown on ESPN3 domestically and AmericaEast.TV internationally.
Binghamton at Albany
- Albany (10-7-1) won its last five conference games to capture its first outright America East regular-season title and the championship’s No. 1 seed for the first time.
- The Great Danes are making their sixth semifinal showing but still looking for their first championship game appearance.
- Binghamton (9-7-2) rallied from a late two-goal deficit in the quarterfinal against Stony Brook Saturday to win, 3-2 in double overtime.
- The Bearcats, who are 4-1-2 all-time in the semifinals, scored twice in the final 13 minutes of regulation to tie it and got the game winner from Pascal Trappe with five minutes left in double overtime.
- The Albany-Binghamton matchup features the league’s Striker of the Year, Afonso Pinheiro, the league leader with 26 points, against the Goalkeeper of the Year, Robert Moewes.
- The Great Danes beat the Bearcats on the final day of the regular season, 3-1, in Vestal.
- The two programs have met twice previously in the tournament, both in the semifinals. The Bearcats won both get togethers at Albany (2004, ’08) to earn a spot in the league title game.
- Binghamton holds an 8-6-3 series advantage at the Division I level..
UMBC at Vermont
- Vermont (9-6-3) is the No. 2 seed for the sixth time in program history and first time since 2007 when the Catamounts won their last America East title.
- The Catamounts, who have their best seed since 2012, are 6-6-1 all-time in the semifinals, but 0-2 in their last two appearances (2012, ’14).
- UMBC (11-5-3), the three-time defending conference champion, is in the semifinals for the sixth in the last seven years and ninth time overall. The Retrievers are 4-3-1 all time in the semis.
- The Retrievers benefitted from an own goal and held New Hampshire off the board in a 1-0 win over the Wildcats in the quarterfinals Saturday.
- UMBC is 6-0-1 in its last seven America East Championship contests.
- A key matchup in the game will pit first-team all-conference forward, Brian Wright of Vermont against America East Defender of the Year Malcom Harris. Wright ranks second in the league with 22 points while Harris and the Retriever defense haven’t allowed a goal in their last four games.
- Vermont beat UMBC, 3-0, in the regular season on Oct. 14. The win snapped UMBC’s 27-game unbeaten streak against America East foes.
- The two teams are an even 6-6-2 against each other. UMBC won the only tournament meeting between the two teams, 3-1 in last year’s semifinals.
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.