Official NCAA Bracket
BOSTON – For the first time in conference history, three #AEMSOC programs received bids to the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship, as Bryant, New Hampshire and Vermont will all be dancing this November.
New Hampshire earned the highest seed in recent conference as a No. 8 seed, and will host a second round contest on Nov. 19 against the winner of Syracuse and Boston University. Boston U, who was a member of the America East from its inception until 2013, was the No. 2 seed in the 1994 32-Team Tournament.
UVM will face off against MAAC Rider at home on Thursday, Nov. 16 in the first round with the winner traveling to face UCF. Bryant will host a first round matchup against Ivy League Champion Yale on Nov. 16. The winner will take to the road to face CAA Champion Hofstra.
Bryant earned the conference’s automatic bid and its first-ever NCAA appearance with a 1-0 victory over the Wildcats on Sunday in the #AEMSOC Championship. New Hampshire is making its seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and has won at least one NCAA contest in three of the past four seasons. UVM earned its third straight NCAA bid after reaching the NCAA Quarterfinals last season.
The Bulldogs are 16-1-2 and lead the nation in GAA (0.26), save percentage (0.889) and goal differential (+40). They have been led by goalkeeper Antreas Hadjigavriel and forward Marc Pitarch Bayot, who leads the conference in both points (28) and goals (11).
New Hampshire is 12-2-4 this season and had been unbeaten in its previous 13 contests before falling 1-0 in double overtime to the Bulldogs. The Wildcats this season have only allowed more than one goal once and rank fifth nationally in GAA (0.659). Eli Goldman has a team-high eight goals while goalkeeper Joseba Incera has been strong in net.
Vermont enters the postseason with an 11-5-2 overall record, but has dropped three of its past four matches. The Catamounts reached as high as No. 11 in the nation this year and are led by First-Team All-Conference selection Yaniv Bazini, who has a league-best four game-winning goals.
This year marks the third straight season multiple America East have reached the NCAA Tournament and the fifth time in the past eight seasons. The America East is one of five conferences with three or more teams selected to the NCAA Tournament this year. The other conferences with three or more selections are the ACC (9), Sun Belt (5), AAC (4) and Pac-12 (3).
Follow @AmericaEast on X and Instagram to follow each team’s journey through the NCAA tournament and use #AEMSOC hashtag to join the conversation.
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