When the NCAA Division I men?s lacrosse tournament concludes on Memorial Day at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, chances are very good that one of those teams could have legitimate home-field advantage.
For the first time in the 37-year history of the tournament, all five Baltimore area colleges and the Univeristy of Maryland made the 16-team field. Of those, Navy (11-3) was the only local team to receive an automatic bid after winning the Patriot League tournament title. The Midshipmen open the tournament Saturday at No. 8 North Carolina (9-5), which lost to Navy, 19-8, in the regular season.
Johns Hopkins (9-4) reached the postseason for the 36th straight year thanks in part to its current five-game winning streak, which included a 12-9 win over Loyola Saturday. This Saturday, the No. 3 Blue Jays host Notre Dame (11-3) out of the Great Western Lacrosse League.
Loyola (7-5) is back in the tournament for the first time in six years thanks in part to a tough regular-season schedule that included a win over top-ranked Duke, the Atlantic Coast Conference champion. The Greyhounds play at America East champion Albany (14-2) on Sunday.
“We are just so happy to be back in the tournament, and nowwe?re looking to hopefully have a little bit of success,” Loyola coach Charley Toomey said. “It?s a whole new ballgame now. We just got through a 12-game season, and now we?re looking to get through a four-game postseason.”
Maryland (10-5), which warmed up for the postseason with a 12-4 rout of Yale last weekend, is starting to get healthy after a season full of injuries to key players. The Terps will host the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (10-5) on Sunday. UMBC won seven of its last nine games but lost to Albany in the America East Conference final, 15-14. Maryland beat UMBC in the regular season, 11-7.
Towson (9-6) won the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season title, but also fell short of getting an automatic bid after Delaware upset the Tigers, 10-7, in the CAA final Saturday. The Tigers play at No. 4 Cornell (13-0) this Saturday.
“We play a schedule every year that warrants consideration for the tournament and helps prepare us for the tournament every year,” Towson coach Tony Seaman said. “We try to play the best teams in the country, and this year it paid off come selection time.”
The quarterfinals are set for May 19 and 20 at Princeton and Navy. The national semifinals and final will take place May 26 and 28, respectively, at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
NCAA FIRST-ROUND MATCHUPS
Saturday, May 12
» Providence (7-9) at No. 1 Duke (14-2), noon
» Towson (9-6) at No. 4 Cornell (13-0), 2:30
» Navy (11-3) at No. 8 North Carolina (9-5), 5
» Notre Dame (11-3) at No. 3 Johns Hopkins (9-4), 7:30
Sunday, May 13
» Princeton (10-3) at No. 6 Georgetown (11-2), noon
» Loyola (7-5) at No. 5 Albany (14-2), 2:30
» Delaware (11-5) at No. 2 Virginia (12-3), 5
» UMBC (10-5) at No. 7 Maryland (10-5), 7:30
