BOSTON – The Stony Brook Seawolves captured their fifth-straight America East regular season title and will host the 2017 America East Women's Lacrosse Championship May 5 and 7 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 2017 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 5 beginning at 5:30 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 5:30 p.m., followed by No. 2 Albany vs. No. 3 UMBC at 8:00 p.m. The championship game begins at noon on Sunday, May 7 and will be available live nationally on ESPN3.
The tournament spots and seedings were already set heading into the final day of the regular season. Stony Brook clinched the No. 1 seed with a win over UMBC last weekend, but then concluded and unbeaten regular season with a win over UMass Lowell on Saturday.
Stony Brook (16-1, 6-0 AE) added to its historic run in the America East, winning the regular season and right to host for the fifth-straight season. The Seawolves enter the tournament ranked 4th in both the IWLCA and Inside Lacrosse polls. The team boasts the nation's leading scorer in Kylie Ohlmiller, who scored her 300th career point in the regular season finale vs. UMass Lowell, becoming the first player in America East history to reach the milestone.
Albany (11-4, 5-1 AE) is making its ninth-straight appearance in the tournament and fifth-straight as a No. 2 seed. Sarah Martin is one of the top scorers in the country, ranking second in points per game entering the tournament. The Great Danes have won 10-plus games in eight-straight seasons.
UMBC (11-5, 4-2) had clinched its third-straight appearance in the tournament and finished in third place with a 4-2 conference mark, the team's best record in conference play since 2011.
New Hampshire (3-13, 3-3) finished in fourth place and is making its fourth tournament appearance in the last five years. The Wildcats are one of the top defensive teams in the conference during league play, allowing just 10.33 goals per game.
2017 America East Women's Lacrosse Championship
All games at LaValle Stadium, Stony Brook, N.Y.
Friday, May 5 - Semifinals
#4 New Hampshire at #1 Stony Brook - 5:30 p.m. (AmericaEast.TV)
#3 UMBC vs. #2 Albany - 8:00 p.m. (AmericaEast.TV)
Sunday, May 7 - Final
Semifinal winners, 12 noon (ESPN3)