Daily Word: Men's Soccer Race Heats Up - AmericaEast.com

Daily Word: Men's Soccer Race Heats Up - AmericaEast.com

New for the 2011-2012 seasons, the America East Daily Word, a collaboration between AmericaEast.comand AExtra, will recap theh previous day's games and on goings on our nine campuses and provide links to previews, recaps, features and exclusive coverage.

It’s time to get serious. 

Every men’s soccer team is still mathematically alive for a playoff spot and three have already clinched a berth. Five teams battling for three spots means action on the pitch this week is going to be intense. 

We’ve got four contests tonight that will start to shed some light on that final field of six. 

The big game tonight takes place in Baltimore when UMBC hosts Stony Brook in a battle between two of the top-three teams in the standings. Both teams have clinched playoff spots but positioning is at stake. The Retrievers are coming off a rough 3-1 defeat at the hands of Hartford. UMBC could clinch the #1 seed with a win and a Boston U. loss. Stony Brook, meanwhile, is fresh off a 2-1 win over Binghamton and has gone 5-2-1 in its last eight games.

Boston U. is tied atop the standings with UMBC at 4-1 in conference and hosts New Hampshire tonight at Nickerson Field. UNH sits in fifth place right now (clinching with a win and an Albany loss) so three points would be huge for the Wildcats. Hartford clings to the final playoff spot (can also clinch with a win and an Albany loss) and the Hawks host a last-place Binghamton squad that is in desperate need of a victory. Lastly, Albany, on the outside looking in if the playoffs started today, travels to Vermont for an afternoon tussle in Burlington. The Catamounts will qualify for the playoffs with a win or a tie today.

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