For the first time since 2011, the No. 5 and 6 seeds are moving onto the semifinals of the America East Men’s Soccer Championship as fifth-seeded UMBC and sixth-seeded NJIT both advanced.
The Retrievers played No. 4 Stony Brook to a 1-1 tie before prevailing in penalty kicks, 8-7, while the Highlanders knocked off No. 3 UAlbany, 2-1.
The semifinals take place on Wednesday, Nov. 7. UMBC will travel to top-seeded New Hampshire, the regular-season champion and 7th-ranked team in the nation, in one semifinal while NJIT visits No. 2 Vermont in the other semifinal. Both games kick off at 6 p.m. and will air on AE.TV.
Semifinals Recap
#5 UMBC 1, #4 Stony Brook 1 (UMBC advances on PKs, 8-7)
- Quantrell Jones stopped Stony Brook’s eighth shootout attempt and then converted a try of his own to send UMBC to the semifinals.
- This will be UMBC’s sixth trip to the semifinals since 2012.
- After neither team scored in the first half, two goals were scored in a 1:03 span.
- Julian Conze staked UMBC to a 1-0 lead on a penalty kick in the 54th minute.
- Stony Brook held a 20-6 shot advantage.
- Jones had six saves for UMBC in addition to the stop in the shootout.
#6 NJIT 2, at #3 UAlbany 1
- Goncalo Franco finished Tomas Jorge’s corner kick in the 58th minute and held off the Great Danes down the stretch to move onto the semifinals.
- It’s the Highlanders’ second-straight semifinals appearance.
- NJIT struck first just before halftime on Alejandro Rabell’s blast from the left side in the 43rd minute.
- UAlbany was able to tie it up before the break on Bjarki Leosson’s penalty kick with just 1:24 left in the half.
- NJIT doubled up UAlbany in shots, 14-7.
Stay up-to-date on the tournament by visiting Championship Central for box scores, highlights and recaps from Thursday's action in addition to live coverage links for Saturday's championship game.
Follow @AmericaEast and @AEDigitalNet on Twitter to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AEMSOC hashtags to join the conversation.
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