NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship Starts Saturday For #BIGEASTmlax
NEW YORK – BIG EAST Regular Season Champion Denver and BIG EAST Tournament Champion Marquette begin their quest for the national title this weekend as NCAA Men’s Lacrosse action gets started on Saturday for the Pioneers and Sunday for the Golden Eagles.
Denver will host Air Force at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 13. Marquette travels to No. 4 seed Notre Dame on Sunday, May 14 for a noon ET first faceoff.
Denver is the overall No. 5 seed in the tournament and earned an at-large berth. Marquette repeated as the BIG EAST tourney winner and received an automatic qualifier.
The winner of the Marquette/Notre Dame game will advance to the NCAA quarterfinals to face the victor of the Denver/Air Force contest at Hofstra on May 20.
NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship First Round
No. 17 Air Force at No. 7/5 Denver
Saturday at 5 p.m. ET/3 p.m. MT
Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium (Denver, Colo.)
ESPNU
Live Stats | Watch Live
Denver (11-3) won its fourth BIG EAST regular-season title with another 5-0 league slate. The Pioneers are 11-8 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including 4-1 at Peter Barton. This is the fifth-straight year that the Pioneers have hosted the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse First Round and the sixth time in program history. Denver is one of four programs to host a first-round game in each of the last five seasons (Syracuse, Maryland, Notre Dame). Denver is 18-2 in its Division I history against the Falcons, winning the last nine games in the series. This will be the first meeting between the old ECAC and GWLL rivals in the NCAA Tournament. Denver won the Feb. 11, 2017, match-up 14-6 at Peter Barton, led by a six-point day from Connor Cannizzaro and a 15-of-18 stint at the dot for junior Trevor Baptiste.
No. 18/16 Marquette at No. 5/5 Notre Dame
Sunday at 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT
Arlotta Stadium (Notre Dame, Ind.)
ESPNU
Live Stats | Watch Live
Marquette (8-7) defeated Providence, 10-9, in the BIG EAST title game on Saturday afternoon to earn its second NCAA automatic bid in as many seasons. Prior to its win over the tournament-host Friars, MU upset No. 2-ranked Denver, 11-8, in the league’s semifinals on Thursday in Providence. Notre Dame enters the national tournament 8-4 overall after compiling a 2-2 record in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Fighting Irish, who defeated MU 11-10 this season and 8-7 in 2016, have lost thier last two games, a 14-10 ACC title game loss to North Carolina prior to a 10-9 defeat to Army West Point on Saturday. ND is 5-0 all-time against the Golden Eagles.