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The second-seed Vermont Catamounts (8-6, 4-2 AE) take on the fourth-seed UMBC Retrievers (5-8, 2-4 AE) in the America East Championship on Saturday at LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, New York.
 
The Championship is slated to begin at 12:00 p.m. and will air on ESPNU with Mike Corey and Don Zimmerman on the call.
 
RELATED LINKS
Tickets | Watch | Live Stats | Game Notes (.pdf)

2019 AMERICA EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
Vermont makes it second consecutive trip to the America East Championship Game and third trip of the last four seasons. UMBC is the third different opponent the Cats have faced in the title game.

Fans can purchase tickets through the link above or at the stadium prior to the game. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for youth, and $2 for students with a valid America East student ID.
 
SCOUTING THE RETRIEVERS
UMBC enters Saturday's title game with a 5-8 overall record. The Retrievers finished the regular season with a 2-4 conference record with wins over Binghamton and Hartford. In Thursday's semifinal, the Retrievers exploded offensively and held an 8-1 lead at the half against Stony Brook. UMBC pushed its lead to 14-4 before the Seawolves scored four late goals to make it a 14-8 final.
 
Sophomore Trevor Patschorke leads the team in points (42) and is second on the team in goals (25). Junior Ryan Frawley leads the team in goals (34) and is second in points (40). Three other Retrievers have 20 or more points on the season and an additional pair have 10 or more points. Freshman Jack Morton has started the last two games in goal for UMBC and three games in total this season. Sophomore Tommy Lingner has made 10 starts. Morton leads the duo with a 10.09 goals against average and .443 save percentage.
 
The Retrievers lead the conference in scoring offense (11.62). They rank second in America East in scoring margin (-0.15) and second in shot percentage (.300). UMBC ranks fourth in scoring defense (11.77), sixth in faceoff percentage (.426), and sixth in ground balls per game (26.46).
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
UMBC holds a 12-4 all-time record against Vermont dating back to the start of the series in 2004. However, Vermont has won four of the last five meetings dating back to 2015.
 
REGULAR SEASON MEETING
On the same day as the America East men's basketball championship game between Vermont and UMBC, the men's lacrosse Cats took a 12-11 double overtime win over the Retrievers in Baltimore (Mar. 16). Vermont erased a six goal fourth quarter deficit, scoring five goals in a 3:06 span to tie the game in the final quarter. It marked the largest fourth quarter comeback in program history and the five goals in 3:06 was the fastest set of five since 2015.
 
Milchling, the Maryland native, tallied four goals in the game, including the game-tying goal with 2:21 remaining in the fourth quarter and the double overtime winner.
 
MAN-DOWN DON'T CARE
Vermont's man-down defense went a staggering 8-for-9 in man-down situations against UAlbany (May 2). UAlbany entered the semifinal ranked 22nd nationally with a .395 success rate. Vermont now leads the conference and ranks ninth nationally with a .735 success rate in man-down situations. The Cats are 47-for-64 this season while a man-down.
 
THOMAS AGAINST THE DANES
Thomas McConvey recorded his second career hat trick in Thursday's semifinal win over UAlbany. It also marked his second career hat trick against the Great Danes of UAlbany. The freshman is tied for second on the team with 21 goals and is fourth on the team with 28 points. He has recorded at least one point in every game this season.
 
GB MACHINE
Sophomore Alex Semler set a career-high with 13 ground balls in Vermont's semifinal win over UAlbany. He broke his previous career-best of nine, set in the regular season meeting against the Great Danes. Semler also tallied his first career goal to tie the game at 6-6 with 1:29 left in the first half on Thursday. He is tied for fifth in the conference with 3.71 ground balls per game.