BOSTON – On the opening day of the 2025 #AEWSOC Championship, No. 4 Maine earned a home victory while No. 6 Bryant took down No. 3 UMass Lowell in a shootout. Both teams advance to Tuesday’s semifinals at No. 1 Binghamton and No. 2 Vermont.
In the first of two quarterfinal matchups, the fourth-seeded Black Bears netted two unanswered second-half goals en route to a 2-1 victory over the fifth-seeded Wildcats. In the second game, after 110 scoreless minutes, Madison Luke sealed the deal for the sixth-seeded Bulldogs, scoring the game-winning goal in a 4-3 shootout to upset the third-seeded River Hawks.
The semifinals take place Thursday with No. 1 Binghamton hosting No. 4 Maine at 5 p.m. while No. 2 Vermont welcoming No. 6 Bryant for a 6 p.m. matchup. The Bearcats beat Maine, 2-1, in their regular-season matchup, while Vermont and Bryant played to a scoreless tie back in September.
Quarterfinal Recap
No. 4 Maine 2, No. 5 New Hampshire 1
- The Wildcats recorded the lone goal in the first-half as Shya Walker gave New Hampshire a 1-0 nothing lead heading into halftime
- The Black Bears logged nine shots, three on goal, but Sonja Zeepvat kept them off the board
- Maine scored the equalizer a minute into the second half when Julie Lossius found Jordane Pinette with a deep cross to tie it up, 1-1
- In the 67th minute, Gillian Rovers recorded the go-ahead goal redirecting a ball from Madison Michaud
- Maine’s Elena Barenberg only had to make one save over the final 45 minutes to help the black Bears preserve the win
No. 6 Bryant 0, No. 3 UMAss Lowell 0 ( 4-3 shootout)
- The Bulldogs and River Hawks combined for 14 first-half shots, but Bryant recorded the lone shot on goal in the opening 45 minutes
- Both teams’ keepers were well tested in the second half, as UMass Lowell’s Rachel Welch stopped two shots, while Bryant’s Selena Negron made three saves
- Neither side found the back of the net through 110 minutes, but they both converted three-out-of-five initial attempts in the shootout
- Bryant’s Negron stopped the River Hawk’s sixth shootout attempt before her teammate, Madison Luke, buried hers to seal the victory for the Bulldogs.
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 X (Formerly Twitter) to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AEWSOC hashtags to join the conversation.
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