Stony Brook University's Jordan McBride scored six goals and University of Hartford's Tim Fallon won 10 draws and picked up 18 ground balls as the first-team all-conference performers led their teams to wins in the semifinals of the America East Men's Lacrosse Championship Wednesday evening. The top-seeded Seawolves downed fourth-seeded Binghamton, 12-8, while the second-seeded Hawks outlasted third-seeded UMBC, 14-11.
With the victories, Stony Brook and Hartford earned spots in the league championship game, which will take place Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Seawolves' LaValle Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.
On Long Island, Stony Brook (10-3), the defending league champion, jumped out to a 4-0 lead over Binghamton (7-8) but the Bearcats trimmed the deficit to one by the end of the first quarter. But the Seawolves, who are ranked 13th in both national polls, ran off eight straight scores and held the Bearcats without a goal for the next 35:14.
McBride, who was named America East Player of the Year on Tuesday, scored four of his goals and also added an assist in the spurt, which gave the Seawolves a 12-3 lead early in the fourth quarter. The Bearcats mounted a rally, scoring the games's final eight goals, but ran out of time.
Senior Kevin Crowley and Tom Compitello, both first-team all-league choices, combined for three goals and five assists for the Seawolves, who have not lost to an America East foe since the 2008 conference title game. Freshman Michael Antinozzi, an America East All-Rookie selection, led Binghamton with two goals and an assist.
In West Hartford, Hartford (10-6) overcame an early 4-1 deficit by mounting a 6-0 run which gave them a 7-4 lead with eight minutes left in the first half. Fallon, who dominated the game winning 10-of-19 draws, scored his third goal of the year to cap the run.
UMBC (6-7) trimmed the deficit to 7-6 before halftime on a pair of goals by junior Rob Grimm, who had a team-high four in the game.
The Hawks, who are in their first conference tournament since 2003, scored six of the first eight goals of the second half to put the game away. Sophomore Jared Franze had four points in the surge and capped it on a goal with 7:10 left in the game to give his team a 13-8 lead.
The Retrievers cut the score to 13-10, but Brendan Marlow added another goal for the Hawks, who earned their first title game appearance since 2003.
Juniors Ryan Compitello and Carter Bender each also scored three goals for the Hawks with Compitello also adding two assists. In addition to Grimm, freshman Joe Lustgarten provided offense for UMBC, scoring three goals and adding an assist.
Stony Brook and Hartford will be meeting for the first time in the America East Championship Saturday. The Seawolves won a thriller during the regular season, overcoming a 6-3 fourth-quarter deficit to rally for a 10-8 win.