UNH & Hartford to Meet For #AEMSOC Title Game After Semis Wins
For the first time ever, New Hampshire and Hartford will decide the America East men’s soccer title after both teams won semifinal contests on Wednesday evening. The top-seeded Wildcats held off fifth-seeded UMass Lowell, 3-0, while the third-seeded Hawks went into Burlington and knocked off the second-seeded Catamounts, 3-2, in overtime.
UNH and Hartford will play for the league crown on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. at UNH’s Wildcat Stadium. The game will air on ESPN+ with an international broadcast set for AmericaEast.TV.
#1 New Hampshire 3, #5 UMass Lowell 0
- America East Midfielder of the Year Antonio Colacci had a goal and an assist to lead UNH into the 2019 #AEMSOC title game.
- The Wildcats will play in the title game for the second-straight year and the sixth time overall.
- After dominating most of the first half but coming up empty on the scoreboard, Rory O’Driscoll got the scoring started for UNH with a goal in the 44th minute.
- Bilal Kamal (’63) and Colacci (’77) added two more scores to seal UNH’s fate.
- UNH outshot UMass Lowell, 20-7.
- The Wildcats are seeking their second-straight #AEMSOC title.
#3 Hartford 3, Vermont 2 (OT)
- Nyrik Antoine’s goal 7:26 into overtime sent Hartford past Vermont and to the 2019 #AEMSOC title game.
- The Hawks’ championship game appearance will be their first since 2014 and eighth all time.
- The Hawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Jovante Etienne (’20) and Sergi Martinez (’40).
- The Catamounts, the America East co-regular-season champions, scored the next two goals to even the score 2-2. Jon Arnar Barddal (’44) and Garrett Lillie (’79 found the back of the net.
- Antoine broke the tie in the 88th minute sending home a cross from Martinez to end it.
- Hartford is seeking its first title since 1999.
The winner of Saturday’s America East men’s soccer title game will earn the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament, #AEMSOC teams have enjoyed great success over the last decade. Teams will learn their NCAA draw during the selection show on Monday at 1 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Stay up-to-date on the tournament by visiting Championship Central for streaming and live stats links as well as box scores, highlights and recaps following each round in addition to team information, tournament history and more.
Follow @AmericaEast and @AEDigitalNet on Twitter to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AEMSOC hashtags to join the conversation.
2019 America East Men’s Soccer Championship
All Games at Higher Seed
Quarterfinals – Saturday, November 9
at #3 Hartford 2, #6 Binghamton 0
#5 UMass Lowell 1, at #4 UAlbany 0
Semifinals – Wednesday, November 13
#3 Hartford 3, at #2 Vermont 2 (OT)
at #1 New Hampshire 3, #5 UMass Lowell 0
Final – Saturday, November 16
#3 Hartford at #1 New Hampshire, 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
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