Men's Lacrosse

The Bracket is Set, UAlbany to Host 2026 #AEMLAX Championship

BOSTON – Following an impressive regular season UAlbany earned the right to host the 2026 America East Men’s Lacrosse Championship, with semifinal action beginning at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 30.
 
UAlbany went 5-0 over its first five conference games to secure the outright regular season title and No. 1 seed. The Great Danes seek the first undefeated regular season since Vermont went 7-0 in 2023 when they face NJIT at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
 
UMBC concluded its regular season last weekend at 4-2, while Vermont and Bryant both improved to 4-2 earlier today, beating Binghamton 14-8 and UMass Lowell 11-7. Bryant earned the No. 2 Seed in the three-way tie due to goal differential as all three teams went 1-1 against each other. The Catamounts and Bulldogs both posted goal differentials of +2 and Bryant beat Vermont head-to-head, securing the No. 2 Seed. The Catamounts are the No. 3 Seed and UMBC the No. 4 seed due to Vermont’s head-to-head victory over the Retrievers.
 
Final Seeds for the 2026 #AEMLAX Championship:
  1. UAlbany (5-0)– The two-time defending champions claimed their second regular season title in the past three seasons.
  2. Bryant (4-2) – Earned a top-2 seed for the third time in the past four seasons and lost to the Great Danes in last year’s championship.
  3. Vermont (4-2) – Secured championship berth for the 7th time in the last eight years.
  4. UMBC (4-2) – Made third straight championship field.
 
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The Great Danes seek to be the first team since UAlbany from 2013-15 to claim three straight tournament championships and just the third group overall. The Great Danes also won three straight form 2003-2005. This year’s field is made up of teams that have all won at least one tournament championship since 2019.
 
The championship kicks off on Thursday with semifinal action. No. 2 Bryant squares off against No. 3 Vermont at 4 p.m. host UAlbany battles UMBC in the nightcap at 7 p.m. Bryant beat Vermont 11-8 at home earlier this season while the Great Danes edged UMBC 10-6 in Maryland.

The semifinal winners will go head-to-head for the 2026 conference championship on Saturday at 1 p.m. All games of the 2026 America East Men’s Lacrosse Championship will air on ESPN+.

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 to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AEMLAX 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 its social media channels, @AmericaEast. 
 
- America East Conference – Where Champions Rise -