ALBANY, N.Y. – The co-champions of the America East Field Hockey East Division each advanced to the championship game of the 2015 America East Field Hockey Championship as East #1 seed Albany and #2 seed Maine won semifinal contests Saturday to advance to Sunday’s title game.
The Great Danes, ranked eighth nationally, overpowered West #3 seed Pacific in a 5-0 win while the Black Bears, ranked 19th in the country, rallied from a second-half deficit for the second time in as many days to beat West#1 seed, Stanford, the nation’s 13th-ranked squad, 2-1 in overtime, to gain spots in the championship game.
The 2015 America East champion will be decided on Sunday with face off set for 12:05 p.m. EST from Albany’s Alumni Turf Field. The game will be shown on ESPN3 and WatchESPN domestically and AmericaEast.TV internationally.
America East Field Hockey Championship Quarterfinals
#E1 Albany 5, #W2 Pacific 0 - Box Score
- Sophomore Anna Bottino scored three times to power eighth-ranked Albany to a 5-0 win over Pacific in the semifinals of the America East Field Hockey Championship Saturday.
- Albany, winner of nine games in a row, will play in the America East championship game for the fourth-straight year and eighth time in the last nine seasons.
- Albany (19-2) controlled play the entire game, outshooting Pacific (11-8), 25-0 and winning the penalty corner edge, 11-0.
- The Great Danes got on the board just 6:08 into the contest.
- Bottino, a second-team All-America East selection, tipped in a feed from Jaclyn Hibbs to stake the Great Danes to a 1-0 advantage.
- Bottino added her second score of the game with 10:13 left in the first half as she took a feed from Paula Heuser, the America East Midfielder of the Year, off a penalty corner and found the back of the cage.
- Heuser staked Albany to a 3-0 advantage minutes into the second half as she converted a penalty stroke 2:13 into the second half.
- Bottino completed the hat trick in the 59th minute, sending home a rebound off a penalty corner for her 15th goal of the year.
- Heuser added her second goal of the year and 32nd of the year with 4:43 to play to make the score 5-0.
- Laura Pujade, a second-team All-Conference selection, made six saves in the cage for the Tigers, who equaled their program record with 11 wins this season.
#E2 Maine 2, #W1 Stanford 1 (OT) - Box Score
- Danielle Aviani scored on a breakaway 4:14 into overtime as Maine came back from a second-half deficit for the second time in as many days to beat Stanford, 2-1, in the America East Field Hockey Championship semifinals Saturday.
- Maine (19-3), winner of a program-record 19 games this season, will play for the league title for the first time since 2006.
- Stanford (13-6) controlled play in the first half, holding a 10-1 shot advantage and broke through with just under 10 minute left in the frame.
- Katie Keyser staked Stanford to a 1-0 lead with 9:32 left in the 1st half via a feed from Fran Tew off a penalty corner.
- Despite not getting many shots, Maine drew five penalty corners, and converted an opportunity in the 55th minute when Katie Bingle scored off a feed from Libby Riedl.
- Stanford had a prime chance to end it in regulation but Keyser’s tip-in attempt off a long entry by Jessica Chisholm was stopped by Emma Cochran.
- The Cardinal again had a scoring chance early in overtime but Bingle swatted Lauren Becker’s shot out of the air for a defensive save that preserved Maine’s chance to win.
- Just three minutes later, Aviani broke in alone on Stanford’s All-American goalkeeper, Dulcie Davies, who charged out of the cage, but Aviani beat her save attempt and sent into the vacant net.
- Maine’s goaltending tandem of Cochran and Emily Corbett made 10 saves.
- Corbett had six saves in the first half to keep the Black Bears within one.
- Stanford held a 21-4 shot advantage for the game.
- The Cardinal, who had the nation’s 10th-best RPI entering the week, will await word on an at-large selection to the NCAA tournament.