ALBANY, N.Y. – After seven rounds of a shootout, the Vermont Catamounts became the first No. 5 seed to claim the #AEFH Championship.
It was a tale of two halves as Vermont scored twice in the second quarter, while the Great Danes netted two goals of their own in the fourth to force overtime. This marks Vermont's second America East title, having won its first in 2024.
Addie DelOrefice was named the Most Outstanding Player after recording two goals and an assist throughout the Championship.
Vermont will learn its NCAA Tournament fate on Sunday night during the NCAA Field Hockey Selection Show at 10 p.m. on NCAA.com.
How It Happened:
- The opening quarter was scoreless, with Vermont holding a 7-1 advantage in penalty corners.
- Aniya Woods scored her first career goal off Vermont's first penalty corner of the second quarter. A stick stop at the top of the circle and a pass to the right gave Woods an open lane to fire the ball into the cage, giving the Catamounts a 1-0 lead.
- The Catamounts doubled their lead 10 minutes into the quarter when Jamie Lewis' shot deflected off a UAlbany defender's stick and into the back of the cage.
- The Great Danes applied pressure in the third quarter, earning three penalty corners and holding the Catamounts without a shot on goal, but were unable to convert.
- UAlbany finally broke through in the fourth quarter when #AEFH Rookie of the Year Quinty Reumer fired a shot from the top of the circle into the back of the cage.
- Reumer struck again in similar fashion with less than six minutes remaining in regulation, scoring the game-tying goal to even the contest at 2-2.
- Vermont earned three penalty corners and recorded two shots in overtime, but the UAlbany defense prevented the Catamounts from getting a clean look at goal, sending the game to a shootout.
- Both teams converted their first three shootout attempts before the Great Danes and Catamounts were denied on their fourth and fifth attempts, respectively, forcing additional rounds.
- Vermont stopped UAlbany on its seventh attempt before successfully converting its own to secure the championship.
Emma Staron of UAlbany was named the winner of the Elite 18 award for posting the highest GPA of any athlete in the championship. Staron carried a has a 4.00 GP as a biology major.
Follow @AmericaEast on X (Formerly Twitter) to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AEFH hashtags to join the conversation.
ABOUT AMERICA EAST
Founded in 1979, the America East Conference is an elite NCAA Division I athletic conference that fosters an environment for student-athletes to become champions. Comprised of academically renowned, like-minded member institutions located in the Northeast region of the United States, America East is committed to broad-based excellence and progressive in its approach to supporting its more than 3,500 student-athletes across 18 sponsored sports. For more information, visit
www.AmericaEast.com and follow the America East Conference and its social media channels, @AmericaEast.
- America East Conference – Where Champions Rise -