BALTIMORE-Top-seeded Binghamton won its sixth consecutive America East Conference Championship, defeating a young UMBC squad, 4-0, at the UMBC Tennis Complex.

The Retrievers have reached the title match in each of the last four years, but have been denied an opportunity to advance to the NCAA Championships by the Bearcats each time.

UMBC could not get untracked in the doubles matches and the Nos. 1 and 2 tandems fell by identical 8-3 scores to cede the first point to the Bearcats.

In singles, matches at Nos. 1 and 6 featured tightly-contested first sets. In the sixth position, sophomore Daniel Gray (Bowie, Md./The Bullis School) captured that first set, 7-5, over BU's Floridan van Kann. But Retriever No. 1 freshman Justin Carter (Randallstown, Md.) lost a see-saw affair by that same 7-5 count.

Binghamton won first sets in the other four singles matches, but another Retriever freshman, Alex Drean (Bayonne, France), evened his match, reversing a 6-2 first set loss to draw level with Robin Lesage.

However, the Bearcats closed the match out quickly, as they captured matches at Nos. 5 and 4 singles and Carter fell, 7-5, 6-0 to end the proceedings.

Of the seven Retrievers that saw action in the championships, four were freshmen and two were sophomores. Gauthier Berret (Lagny Sur Marne, France), a three-time All-Conference honoree, along with Patrick Geoffrion-Amorim (Pointe-Claire, Quebec) are the lone seniors on the squad.

UMBC finished the campaign at 9-9.