Albany, Vermont Use Strong Second Halves to Advance to #AEMLAX Title Game
ALBANY, N.Y. – For the fifth time since 2012, the No. 1 seed will meet the No. 3 seed for the America East men's lacrosse title after Vermont and Albany each rode strong second halves to win their semifinal contests Thursday at Albany's Tom & Mary Casey Stadium.
The third-seeded Catamounts scored the first four goals of the second half on their way to an 8-4 win over No. 2 Stony Brook in the first semifinal of the day while the top-seeded Great Danes outscored No. 4 UMass Lowell, 10-3, after halftime to win in the nightcap, 15-10.
Vermont 8, Stony Brook 4 – Box Score
- Vermont (12-3) scored the first four goals of the second half en route to advancing the league title game for the second time in three seasons.
- The two teams alternated scoring the game's first six goals.
- Mike McCannell scored Stony Brook’s first two goals while Ian MacKay, a first-team All-Conference midfielder, had Vermont’s first two scores and assisted on Braiden Davis’ tally with 1:12 left in the second quarter, which tied the score 3-3 heading into halftime.
- Vermont extended its run to 5-0, scoring the lone goal of the third quarter and opening the fourth with three-straight scores.
- The Catamounts, who caused nine Stony Brook (7-8) turnovers, set a new program record with their 12th win of the season.
- MacKay had a game-high six points on five goals and an assist. He became Vermont's all-time leading scorer by netting his 149th career goal.
- Vermont’s Nick Washuta, a second-team all-leaguer, made 16 saves, six of which came in the third quarter.
- McCannell was joined by Chris Pickel and Wayne White as Stony Brook’s goal scorers.
Albany 15, UMass Lowell 10 – Box Score
- Albany (13-2) scored three-straight extra man goals in the fourth quarter to thwart UMass Lowell’s upset bid and advance to the championship game for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.
- Sean Phillps, who finished with a game-high five goals, scored three of UMass Lowell’s first four and put his team up 4-1 midway through the first quarter.
- The River Hawks (8-8), powered by Hunter Braun’s 10 first-half saves, took a 7-5 lead into the locker room.
- Albany scored five of the seven third quarter goals, including Sean Eccles’ blast with 1.9 seconds left in the frame, which gave Albany a 9-8 lead after three.
- Second-team All-Conference standout Matt Balter opened the second-half scoring to even the game 10-10, but Albany responded with the final five goals of the contest, including three extra-man tallies.
- America East Defensive Player of the Year Year and first-team All-Conference faceoff man TD Ierlan dominated the X, winning 28-of-29 faceoffs he took.
- The Great Danes set an America East Championship single-game record by winning 96.6 percent (28-of-29) of their faceoffs as a team.
- Albany held a 42-20 edge in ground balls, led by Ierlan's 19.
- Three Great Danes finished with six points: Jakob Patterson (5 goals, 1 assists), Sean Eccles (4 goals, 2 assists), Tehoka Nanticoke (3 goals, 3 assists).
- Braun, an All-Rookie selection, made 15 saves for the River Hawks while first-team all-leaguer JD Colarusso had 10 saves for Albany.
- Phillips’ five goals paced UMass Lowell, which was making their first tournament appearance in its first season eligible.
Albany and Vermont will play for the conference title on Saturday at noon at Albany's Casey Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU with John Brickley (play-by-play) and Don Zimmerman (analyst) will have the call.
Albany will be making its 14th championship game appearance while Vermont is making its second title-game showing, the other coming in 2016.
Stay up-to-date on the tournament by visiting Championship Central for box scores and highlights from the semifinals and live coverage links for Saturday’s championship game as well as team information and more.
Follow @AmericaEast and @AEDigitalNet on Twitter to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AEMLAX hashtags to join the conversation.
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