CATONSVILLE, Md. – Down 6-3 midway through the third quarter, the second-seeded Vermont men's lacrosse team ripped off seven straight goals to earn a come-from-behind 10-7 win over No. 3 Stony Brook in the America East Semifinals Thursday evening.
 
The Cats will take on No. 4 UAlbany who knocked off top-seed and host UMBC in Saturday morning's championship game. All the action gets underway at 10 a.m. on ESPNU.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score | Box Score (pdf.)
CatamounTV Highlights
 
COACH'S QUOTE

"This has been two years in the making to get to this point," head coach Chris Feifs said. "It's incredibly rewarding to get a win like we did tonight to put ourselves in position to compete again but we are absolutely not finished and not satisfied. We really want to get over that hump on Saturday."

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Cats got off to a slow start as Stony Brook scored four of the game's first five goals.
• Michael McCormack tallied the first of his three goals on the day to stem the tide late in the first quarter but it was the Seawolves who took a 5-2 lead into halftime.
• Stone Jacobs got Vermont on the board in the third with a goal in transition off a feed from Liam Limoges to make it 5-3 but Stony Brook answered right back on Chris Pickel's first of two goals on the day.
• First-year Griffin Fenech found an opening down the alley, absorbed a hit and still managed to finish to get the Cats back to within two at 6-4.
• With 1:53 remaining in the third, Limoges drew an illegal body check penalty – an unreleasable, two-minute infraction. The Cats took advantage. Vermont scored three man-up goals (Limoges, Closterman and McCormack) in a span of 1:08 to close the third and take a 7-6 lead to the fourth.
• Those three same UVM attackers found paydirt again in the fourth starting with McCormack's running bouncer from the right wing to make it 8-6. Limoges found a loose rebound high in the air and finished before Closterman put the finishing touches on a 7-0 run with a dodge from X that sealed the game.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Vermont's defense held Stony Brook to two goals in the final 51:32 of game action.
• Ryan Cornell made 15 saves including nine in the second half.
• Tommy Burke went 14-20 at the faceoff X – the eighth time this season this season he's been 70-percent or better.
• Entering the game Stony Brook had given up just 10 man down goals all year. UVM scored three in 1:08 to end the third quarter.

WHO'S NEXT

No. 4 UAlbany awaits No. 2 Vermont in Saturday morning's championship game. First faceoff is set for 10 a.m. and all of the action will be televised nationally on ESPNU.