CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The matchups are set for the 2009 America East Women's Soccer Championship, which begins on Thursday with a pair of quarterfinal contests.

Maine (8-5-2, 5-2-1, 16 pts. America East) downed Albany (8-9-1, 3-4-1, 10) 3-2 on Sunday to earn the No. 3 seed. The Black Bears will host No. 6 New Hampshire (4-12-1, 3-5-0, 9) in the first quarterfinal on Thursday at 2 p.m. The Black Bears downed the Wildcats 2-0 in their regular-season meeting.

Stony Brook (6-9-2, 5-2-1, 16), which lost the tiebreaker to Maine due to its loss in Orono earlier this week, will host the No. 5 Great Danes in the other quarterfinal at 7 p.m. Albany is making its first-ever America East Championship in its ninth year in the league. The Great Danes snapped the Seawolves' six game unbeaten streak with a 2-0 victory on Oct. 18.

The Bearcats, who earned the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye with their 1-0 win at UNH Sunday, are seeking their first America East title since 2004. The Terriers, who downed UMBC 5-0 to claim their second consecutive outright regular-season title, are seeking their third straight conference title and seventh this decade.

The championship game will be played on Saturday, Nov. 7 or Sunday, Nov. 8 at the highest remaining seed.


2009 America East Women's Soccer Championship
Thursday, October 29 -- Quarterfinals
Game 1: No. 6 New Hampshire at No. 3 Maine, 2 p.m.
Game 2: No. 5 Albany at No. 4 Stony Brook, 7 p.m.

Sunday, November 1 -- Semifinals
Game 3: Game 1 Winner at No. 2 Binghamton, 1 p.m.
Game 4: Game 2 Winner at No. 1 Boston University, 1 p.m.

Saturday/Sunday, November 7/8 -- Final
Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner, TBA