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(Photo Courtesy of Vermont Athletics)
After falling in three of the past four America East title games (2016, 2018, 2019) the Vermont Catamounts have finally gotten over the hump and are NCAA Tournament bound for the first time in program history, taking down UAlbany 15-10 to capture that first-ever conference title and NCAA Tournament berth.
Following a back-and-forth first half which saw the Catamounts take a narrow 8-7 lead after two goals from Thomas McConvey and Tommy Burke within the final 13 seconds of the half, Vermont stepped on the gas in the third quarter and din’t let up until the final buzzer sounded. The Catamounts put in three straight, including two from Liam Limoges, to start the third, extend their run to five, and take a 12-7 lead.
Photo courtesy of America East Conference)
For 29 minutes and 47 seconds, the America East final could not have been any closer. No. 2-seed Vermont and No. 4-seed UAlbany traded goals, the margin was never greater than one goal, and the score was tied at every increment between 1-1 and 7-7.
Thomas McConvey scored with 13 seconds remaining, then FOGO Tommy Burke punctuated his dominant first half (16-of 17, 12 groundballs) by winning to himself and scoring a goal with eight seconds remaining. The Catamounts stayed outside for halftime and parlayed that momentum into scoring the game’s next four goals, opening up a lead they’d be able to sit on for the last 20 minutes en route to a 15-10 victory to claim the America East championship.
Photo courtesy Nora King, Vermont Athletics)
The UAlbany Great Danes had to win Thursday’s America East Semifinal twice on Thursday afternoon in Catonsville, Md. First, they built a seven-goal first quarter lead and appeared to have the game in hand, only to have the Retrievers chip away and a four-goal run lead to a tie game with 10 minutes to go.
Then, after Brandon Galloway’s fifth goal of the day brought UMBC level once again, Corey Yunker had to score the final go-ahead tally with 2:27 two play, and Ron John iced it with 1:13 to go.
UAlbany topped UMBC 14-12 and advance to take on Vermont in the America East Semifinals on Saturday at 10 a.m. at UMBC. The game will be aired live on ESPNU.
ETHAN TAM/THE STATESMAN
A crucial clock error cost the No. 19-ranked Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team in the toughest way possible as the Seawolves lost their second straight game on Saturday, May 1 on the road against the Vermont Catamounts 14-13.
Graduate midfielder Chris Pickel Jr. tied the game at 13 for the Seawolves with only eight seconds remaining. Vermont won the ensuing faceoff and senior attackman Liam Limoges got the ball past Stony Brook junior goalkeeper Anthony Palma before the buzzer in a heartbreaking defeat for the Seawolves.
The referees met and determined that Limoges scored before time expired. However, upon further review, it appears that numerous seconds elapsed between Vermont winning the faceoff and the clock starting, giving the Catamounts more time than they should have had to execute the game-winning buzzer-beater.
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