Maine and UAlbany are moving on in the America East Women’s Soccer Championship. The #3 Black Bears and #5 Great Danes each posted quarterfinal wins on Sunday to advance to the semifinals.
UAlbany scored twice in the second half to beat #4 UMass Lowell on the road, 3-1, while Maine scored twice in the first half and held on a 4-1 win of its own.
The Great Danes will head to Vestal, N.Y. for the semifinals and meet regular-season champion and top-seeded Binghamton at 6 p.m. The Black Bears head to #2 New Hampshire for a meeting with the Wildcats in Durham at 6 p.m. in the other semi. Both games will air on ESPN+.
Quarterfinals Recap
#5 UAlbany 3, #4 UMass Lowell 1
- UAlbany scored twice in a 4:09 span in the second half to secure a 3-1 win in the #AEWSOC quarterfinals.
- The Great Danes are in the semis for the fourth time in the last five years and first time under first-year head coach Sade Ayinde.
- Olivia Piraino, a second-team All-Conference selection, scored twice, including the first goal of the game on a left-footed blast in the 35th minute to give UAlbany a 1-0 lead.
- UMass Lowell evened the score just 9:16 into the second half on Chloe Layne’s finish.
- Marisa Tava buried a penalty kick in the 74th minute as the Great Danes took back the lead.
- Piraino’s second goal of the game, just 4:09 later, iced the win for the Great Danes.
- UAlbany’s Megan Hart stopped seven of the eight shots she faced in net
#3 Maine 4, #6 NJIT 1
- Maine exploded for a season-high tying four goals to down NJIT in the #AEWSOC quarterfinals.
- The win sends Maine to the semifinals for the first time since 2015.
- Saylor Clark, Emma Donovan and Abby Kraemer all had three-point nights for Maine, which netted its most scores since a 4-0 win over Holy Cross way back on Sept. 11.
- Donovan started the scoring just 10:16 into the contest off a feed from Kraemer.
- Clark came off the bench and found the back of the net within a minute of appearing to stake the Black Bears to a 2-0 lead in the 24th minute.
- Briana Andreoli netted NJIT’s goal in the 68th minute, but Maine responded with a goal by Julie Lossius just 19 seconds later.
- Kraemer padded the advantage with a score in the 85th minute.
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 on Twitter and Instagram to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AEWSOC hashtags to join the conversation.
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