BOSTON - The final day of the America East men's soccer regular season saw history made as UMass Lowell wrapped-up its first-ever regular season title. The 2016 tournament bracket was also set following Wednesday's results.
The River Hawks defeated Hartford, 2-1, to finish the conference regular season 5-1-1 with 16 points and claim its first America East regular-season title in any sport. UMass Lowell is finishing its final year of transitioning to Division I, and is not eligible for the conference tournament.
With a 2-0 win over UMBC on Wednesday, Stony Brook earned the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament for the second time in program history and the first time since 2005. No. 2 Albany, No. 3 Vermont, No. 4 New Hampshire, No. 5 Hartford and No. 6 Binghamton rounded out the tournament field.
The championship begins on Saturday, Nov. 5 with quarterfinal action. New Hampshire hosts Hartford and Vermont hosts Binghamton with both games kicking off at 1 p.m. The teams that advance will play in the semifinal round on Wednesday, Nov. 9 with the New Hampshire-Hartford winner at top-seeded Stony Brook and the Vermont-Binghamton winner playing at second-seeded Albany. Both semifinal games will be at 7 p.m. The semifinal winners will meet for the America East title anda trip to the NCAA tournament on Sunday, Nov. 13. The America East enters tournament play with the No. 3 RPI in the country, behind only the ACC and Pac 12.
The quarterfinals and semifinals will be streamed for free at AmericaEast.TV and be available on computers, tablets and smartphones. For the second-straight year, the championship game will be shown live on ESPN3 and WatchESPN apps.
Stony Brook (4-2-1) finished tied in the standings with Albany (4-2-1) after the Great Danes topped Binghamton, 5-1, on Wednesday. The Seawolves earned the top seed by virtued of their head-to-head win against the Great Danes, with Albany receiving the No. 2 seed.
Vermont and New Hampshire also finished in a tie for the No. 3 seed, with the Catamounts edging out the Wildcats by virtue of their 2-0 head-to-head win on Wednesday night. Hartford and Binghamton both lost and Wednesday and finished as the No. 5 and No. 6 seed, respectively.
Visit America East's Championship Central throughout the tournament for previews, links to in-game coverage, including free live video, and postgame reaction.
2016 America East Men's Soccer Championship
Quarterfinals - Saturday, November 5
No. 6 Binghamton at No. 3 Vermont, 1 p.m.
No. 5 Hartford at No. 4 New Hampshire, 1 p.m.
Semifinals - Wednesday, November 9
Binghamton-Vermont Winner at No. 2 Albany, 7 p.m.
Hartford-New Hampshire Winner at No. 1 Stony Brook, 7 p.m.
Final - Sunday, November 13
Semifinal Winners at Highest Remaining Seed, TBA