CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- University at Albany will play for its first-ever America East women's soccer championship. The Great Danes earned a date with Boston University after posting a 1-0 win over University of Hartford on Monday in the America East semifinals.
The Terriers and Great Danes will face off on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Nickerson Field. The game will be streamed live and available for free at AmericaEast.com.
The second-seeded Hawks and third-seeded Great Danes, who were supposed to play yesterday but had the game postponed due to snow, played a scoreless first half, but Albany (9-9-1) broke through in the opening minutes of the second half. Shayla Bergeron took a Maggie DeVerna pass just inside the 18-yard box and put a shot just under the crossbar to give her team a 1-0 lead in the 47th minute.
Hartford (13-2-3), which finished its best win record since 1997, had several chances in the second half, outshooting the Great Danes, 13-3 in the frame. The Hawks' best chance game with just under 10 minutes left when Amanda Lo Bello's shot rang off the crossbar.
Freshman goalkeeper Jackie Ubert made four stops for the Great Danes, who extended their unbeaten streak to eight games (6-0-2). The Hawks held a 16-4 shot advantage for the game.
Boston U. (17-2-1), the league's regular-season champion, downed Binghamton, 2-1, Sunday to earn its fifth-straight championship game appearance. The Terriers jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Binghamton when America East Midfielder of Year Brittany Heist's goal in the 19th minute. Heist, who scored her fifth of the year, took a feed from Ariana Aston, an all-rookie choice and beat Binghamton keeper Carrie Martin from close distance.
The Terriers, who are seeking their fifth straight America East title, struck again in the 38th minute. Kylie Strom, a first-team all-conference midfielder sent a long feed to Madison Clemens, who buried the ball in the right side of the net to give her team a 2-0 lead.
Binghamton (7-10-1) cut the deficit to 2-1 midway through the second half. Sarah Furminger took Mary DeWitte's pass and beat Terrier goalkeeper Alice Binns on the Bearcats' first shot of the game in the 66th minute. The Bearcats, who were making their third America East semifinal appearance in four years, had a few more chances, but were unable to tie the Terriers, who won their 12th straight game.
Visit America East's Championship Central throughout the tournament for previews, links to in-game coverage and postgame reaction.
2011 America East Women's Soccer Championship
Quarterfinals - Thursday, October 27
No. 5 Binghamton 1, at No. 4 New Hampshire 0 -- Box Score
at No. 3 Albany 2, No. 6 Vermont 1 (2OT) -- Box Score
Semifinals
Sunday, October 30
at No. 1 Boston University 2, Binghamton 1 -- Box Score
Monday, October 31
Albany at 1, No. 2 Hartford 0 -- Box Score
Final - Saturday, November 5
Albany at Boston U., 1 p.m.
