There was little surprise at the very top of the NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship field as unbeaten Maryland earned the No. 1 seed. The Terps moved to 19-0 with a convincing 14-6 win over Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship game today.
Defending national champion North Carolina earned the No. 2 seed and will play the winner of a first-round game between Virginia and Elon. Elon is one of two first-time teams in the field, joining Colorado. Florida, which has won nine straight games, is the No. 3 seed.
Penn State, a semifinalist a year ago, earned the No. 4 seed despite getting upset by Northwestern in the Big Ten semifinals. They are followed by Ivy League champion Princeton at No. 5 and Syracuse at No. 6.
The biggest surprise, or maybe not considering last year’s seedings, was that 18-1 Stony Brook was only seeded eighth. The Seawolves beat six different NCAA teams, including Albany twice, while Penn earned a No. 7 seed with just two wins against tournament teams, and an Ivy League tournament semifinal loss. Stony Brook also had a win over Colorado, a team that beat No. 4 seed Penn State.
PHOTO BY JOHN STROHSACKER
Stony Brook earned just a No. 8 seed despite going 18-1, winning the America East title and winning seven games against teams selected for the tournament field. Five of the wins came against teams that earned an at-large bid.
The at-large bubble went as predicted by our bracketologist Jeremy Fallis with Albany, Elon, Louisville and Towson earning bids, while Johns Hopkins missed out despite a strong RPI and strength of schedule. After losing 19-16 to No. 1 Maryland in the Big Ten semifinals, the Blue Jays finished with no wins over teams that made the tournament — with a controversial 10-9 overtime loss at Northwestern on March 30 looming large.
Here’s a look at the match-ups that begin on May 12:
College Park, Md.
High Point vs. Towson
Winner plays at (1) Maryland
Stony Brook, N.Y.
Northwestern vs. Albany
Bryant at (8) Stony Brook
State College, Pa.
James Madison vs. Louisville
Winner plays at (4) Penn State
Princeton, N.J.
Cornell vs. Notre Dame
Winner at (5) Princeton
Chapel Hill, N.C.
Elon vs. Virginia
Winner at (2) North Carolina
Philadelphia, Pa.
Colorado vs. Massachusetts
Navy at (7) Penn
Gainesville, Fla.
USC vs. Jacksonville
Winner at (3) Florida
Syracuse, N.Y.
Boston College vs. Canisius
Winner at (6) Syracuse
BRACKET
Adelphi and Lindenwood Earn Top Seeds in Division II
Lindenwood’s first loss of the season did not cost the Lions, as the Missouri school earned the No. 1 seed for the NCAA Division II women’s lacrosse championship in the South region. Adelphi, which has played in three straight NCAA title games, is the No. 1 seed in the North.
Lindenwood won its first 20 games this season before getting outscored by Regis (Colo.) 7-2 in the second half, losing 13-11 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship game earlier today. Defending national champion Florida Southern is the No. 2 seed in the South and is followed by No. 3 East Stroudsburg, No. 4 Regis, No. 5 Queens (N.C.) and No. 6 Florida Tech in the South.
Adelphi earned the No. 1 seed in the North, avenging its only previous defeat this season with a 7-5 victory over LeMoyne in the Northeast-10 championship game today. LeMoyne, undefeated going into the title game, earned the No. 2 seed in the North. Also earning bids in the North were No. 3 LIU Post, No. 4 New Haven, No. 5 Mercy and No. 6 NYIT.
The championship opens on May 12 with the top two seeds in each region hosting weekend games. The championship round is set for May 19-21 at Bloomsburg University.
Full bracket: http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/lacrosse-women/d2/2017
40 Teams Selected for Division III Bracket
Middlebury began the season as the top-ranked team in the Nike/US Lacrosse Women’s Division III rankings while William Smith completed the regular season on top. Along the way, Gettysburg, Washington and Lee and Trinity all took turns at the top of the rankings. It should be wide open after the NCAA announced its 40-team field on Sunday night.
William Smith improved to 18-1 with a 14-4 victory over Skidmore in the Liberty League championship game and is in the same quadrant as second-ranked Washington and Lee in the NCAA field. W&L is 16-1 and won its eighth straight Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship with a 7-3 win over Randolph-Macon.
Full bracket: http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/lacrosse-women/d3/2017