CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Twenty teams and individuals in eight sports will be crowned America East champions during the fast approaching 2012-13 season. The conference office announced the dates and venues for the majority of its conference championships, during which 12 teams will earn automatic bids to NCAA Championships, this morning.
The year will be highlighted by the America East Men's and Women's Basketball Championship, the league's signature event, which will be held in a combined format for the fourth straight year and visit Albany, N.Y. for the first time. University at Albany's SEFCU Arena, the site of the 2009 men's championship, will host the event March 8-10. The title games will both be held the following week at the site of the highest remaining seeds. The men’s championship game will be on Saturday, March 16, with the women’s title tilt is tentatively slated for that same day.
The first America East champions of the year will be crowned on Saturday, Oct. 27 when the league's men's and women's cross country teams race at the University of New Hampshire.
Both men’s and women’s soccer tournaments, featuring six-team fields, are held at the highest seeds in each round. The women’s championship kicks off with quarterfinal action on Thursday, Oct. 25 and continues with the semifinals on Sunday, Oct. 28 and the final the following weekend. The men’s championship begins on Saturday, November 3 with the quarterfinals, while the semifinal round will be on Wednesday, November 7. The champion will be crowned that weekend, on either Nov. 10 or 11.
The field hockey semifinals and finals will be held at the highest seed’s artificial turf field on Friday, November 2 and Sunday, November 4, while the volleyball tournament will be held at the top seed’s gym on November 16-18 or 17-18. Both championships include four-team fields.
The swimming and diving championship will return to the University of Maine for the first time since 2008 and take place on Feb. 14-17 at Wallace Pool. The indoor track & field championship will also be held in mid February. Exact dates and venue will be announced at a later date.
Men's and women's tennis will decide its champion April 26-28 at a site to be determined, while four women's lacrosse women’s lacrosse programs will play for the America East title Thursday, May 2 and Saturday, May 4 at the site of the regular-season champion.
The men's lacrosse championship, featuring the league's top four teams, will be played that same week as the women's. For the first time in several years, the conference will play its men's lacrosse tournament at a predetermined campus site, which will be announced in early October. Dates will also be announced at a future date.
Binghamton University will host the outdoor track & field championship May 4-5 and the softball championship, a four-team, double-elimination tournament, will be on the highest seed’s diamond May 9-11. The final championship of the year, the baseball tournament, which saw its 2012 champion, Stony Brook, advance all the way to the College World Series, will be held May 22-24 and 25 if necessary in the same format.
Select championship dates are still subject to change to accommodate television. Please visit www.AmericaEast.com for the latest information on championship schedules and coverage.
ABOUT THE AMERICA EAST CONFERENCE: Into its third decade of operation, America East has evolved into one of the most comprehensive NCAA Division I conferences with a commitment to broad-based, competitive athletics programs, complementing the academic integrity and missions of the member institutions. Progressive in its approach to its more than 3,400 student-athletes, America East recognizes champions in each of its 20 sports and also conducts the nation’s most comprehensive academic recognition program for student-athletes. With a geographic footprint covering the Mid-Atlantic to Northeast regions of the United States, America East strives to develop champions in academics, athletics and leadership at its nine member institutions: University at Albany, Binghamton University, Boston University, University of Hartford, University of Maine, UMBC, University of New Hampshire, Stony Brook University and University of Vermont.