For the sixth time in conference history, America East will send multiple teams to the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship. Albany and Vermont both received tournament bids when the field was announced during the NCAA selection show Monday.
Albany, the league champion, received one of the championship's 16 seeds and a first-round bye. The 14th-seeded Great Danes will host the winner of Thursday's Boston College-Fordham matchup Sunday at Casey Stadium.
Vermont, the first America East to earn an at-large bid since Boston University in 2007, will host MAAC champion Rider in a first round matchup Thursday at 7 p.m. at Virtue Field. The game can be seen on AmericaEast.TV.
UMass Lowell, the America East regular-season champion, would have received a tournament bid as well, but was ineligible for postseason play due to NCAA reclassifying rules. America East teams helped the league earn the third-best conference RPI in the nation this year.
Need to Know
- The Great Danes’ #14 seed is the best seed for an America East team since the bracket expanded to 48 teams in 2001.
- Albany is just the second America East team to receive a seed for the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship joining UMBC’s 2013 team.
- It marks the first time in conference history multiple America East teams earned home tournament games.
- This is the 12th time in the last 16 years that an America East team has reached the second round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship.