BOSTON - The final day of the America East men's soccer regular-season saw Albany secure its first-ever outright regular-season title with a 3-1 win over Binghamton and the rest of the conference tournament seeds finalized.
Just four points separated the six teams that had already qualified for the championship heading into the day. Along with Albany, Vermont and UMBC picked up wins and earned the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively. No. 4 Stony Brook, No. 5 Binghamton and No. 6 New Hampshire round out the seeds.
The championship begins on Saturday, Nov. 7 with quarterfinal action. UMBC hosts New Hampshire at 7 p.m. while Stony Brook hosts Binghamton at 7:30 p.m. The teams that advance will play in the semifinal round on Wednesday, Nov. 11 with the Stony Brook-Binghamton winner at top-seeded Albany and the UMBC-New Hampshire winner playing at second-seeded Vermont. Both semifinal games will be at 7 p.m. The semifinal winners will meet for the America East title and a trip to the NCAA tournament, where UMBC made a run all the way to the College Cup last season, on Sunday, Nov. 15.
The quarterfinals and semifinals will be streamed for free at AmericaEast.TV and be available on computers, tablets and smartphones. For the first time in league history, the championship game will be shown live on ESPN3 and WatchESPN apps.
Albany (10-7-1, 5-2-0, 15 pts AE) got a goal and an assist from Afonso Pinheiro to beat Binghamton (8-7-2, 3-3-1, 10 pts AE) 3-1 and capture its first-ever outright regular-season title and No. 1 seed for the championship. The Great Danes won their last five league games after starting 0-2. The Bearcats earned the No. 5 seed via a three-way tiebreak with Stony Brook and New Hampshire.
Vermont (9-6-3, 3-3-2, 11 pts AE) got a goal and an assist each from Brian Wright and Stefan Lamanna en route to a 3-1 victory at New Hampshire (10-4-3, 3-3-1, 10 pts AE). The win gave Catamounts the No. 2 seed, their best since 2012. They earned the tiebreaker with UMBC by virtue of a 3-0 win over the Retrievers back on October 14. The Wildcats lost a three-way tiebreaker with Stony Brook and Binghamton and is the No. 6 seed.
UMBC (10-5-3, 3-2-2, 11 pts AE) shut out Stony Brook (7-7-3, 3-2-1, 10 pts AE), 3-0, behind two goals from Patrick Jean-Giles. The third-seeded Retrievers are seeking their fourth-straight league title and fifth in six years. The Seawolves earned the No. 4 seed and will host a tournament game for the first time since 2012.
Visit America East's Championship Central throughout the tournament for previews, links to in-game coverage, including free live video, and postgame reaction.
2015 America East Men's Soccer Championship
Quarterfinals - Saturday, November 7
No. 6 New Hampshire at No. 3 UMBC, 7 p.m.
No. 5 Binghamton at No. 4 Stony Brook, 7:30 p.m.
Semifinals - Wednesday, November 11
UMBC-New Hampshire Winner at No. 2 Vermont, 7 p.m.
Stony Brook-Binghamton Winner at No. 1 Albany, 7 p.m.
Final - Sunday, November 15
Semifinal Winners at Highest Remaining Seed, TBA