BOSTON – The Stony Brook Seawolves captured their fourth-straight America East regular season title and will host the 2016 America East Women’s Lacrosse Championship May 6 and 8 as the conference season came to a close on Saturday. The No. 1 seeded Seawolves are joined by No. 2 University at Albany, No. 3 UMBC and No. 4 University of New Hampshire. The winner of the 2016 America East Championship will earn the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Championship.
All championship games will be held at Stony Brook’s Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, N.Y. Semifinal games will be played Friday, May 6 beginning at 5:00 p.m. and will be streamed live for free on AmericaEast.TV. No. 1 Stony Brook and No. 4 New Hampshire will start things off at 5 p.m., followed by No. 2 Albany vs. No. 3 UMBC at 7:30 p.m. The championship game begins at noon on Sunday, May 5 and will be available live nationally on ESPN3.
Tournament spots and seeding were still up for grabs heading into the final day of the season on Saturday, including a battle for the regular-season title between Stony Brook and Albany. The Seawolves defeated the Great Danes, 13-4, to win the team’s fifth regular-season title in program history.
The final two spots in the field also were left to be decided. UMBC, New Hampshire and Vermont all entered the day fighting for the final two bids. The Retrievers beat the Wildcats, 12-7, to lock up the No. 3 seed. The result also secured a bid for UNH as well as both teams would have held tiebreak edges over Vermont, which ended up dropping its finale to Binghamton, 13-8.
Stony Brook (14-3, 6-0 AE) added to its historic run in the America East, winning the regular season and right to host for the fourth-straight season. The Seawolves enter the tournament ranked 7th in IWLCA and 6th in the Inside Lacrosse polls. The team boasts the nation’s leading scorer in Courtney Murphy, who has 85 goals entering the tournament.
Albany (10-5, 5-1 AE) is making its eighth-straight appearance in the tournament and fourth-straight as a No. 2 seed. Dakotah Savitcheff is one of the top scorers in the league, averaging 4.3 goals per game during conference play. The Great Danes have won 10-plus games in seven-straight seasons.
UMBC (9-7, 3-3) had clinched its second-straight appearance in the tournament and finished tied for third place with a 3-3 conference mark. The nine wins are the Retrievers’ most since 2011. Carolyn Jamison ranks among league leaders with 60 points, including 50 goals.
New Hampshire (6-10, 3-3) finished tied for third place and is making its third tournament appearance in the last four years. The third-place finish is the Wildcats’ best since 2013. Laura McHoul leads the Wildcats with 45 points, including 30 assists.
2016 America East Women's Lacrosse Championship
All games at LaValle Stadium, Stony Brook, N.Y.
Friday, May 6 - Semifinals
#4 New Hampshire at #1 Stony Brook - 5 p.m. (AmericaEast.TV)
#3 UMBC vs. #2 Albany - 7:30 p.m. (AmericaEast.TV)
Sunday, May 8 - Final
Semifinal winners, 12 noon (ESPN3)
