The University of Maryland men’s lacrosse team will embark on its defense of last year’s national title as the No. 1 overall seed in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship.
The field of 17 teams and the bracket were revealed by the selection committee on Sunday night.
The Terrapins (12-3) spent the entire season ranked in the top three of the major polls and won nine games against ranked opponents. For their first round game on Sunday, May 13 at 12 p.m., the Terrapins will host the winner of the tournament’s only play-in game, which pits MAAC champion Canisius against Northeast Conference winner Robert Morris.
Five other local teams make the field
Georgetown clinched an automatic qualifying berth Saturday when the Hoyas upset Denver 8-3 in the Big East Championship game.
Georgetown will face No. 5 overall seed Johns Hopkins in the first round. Hopkins was one of three teams to beat Maryland this season. After losing to the Terrapins in triple overtime 8-7 to close out the regular season, the Blue Jays exacted revenge with a 13-10 win in a rematch in the Big Ten Championship game.
Loyola, the Patriot League champions out of Baltimore and the No. 6 overall seed, will face Virginia in the first round. And Southern Conference champion Richmond drew No. 2 Albany.
Looking ahead
If Maryland takes care of business in the first round, it will face the winner of Syracuse-Cornell in the quarterfinals. The Terrapins could face a rematch with Johns Hopkins (or a date with Georgetown) in the national semifinals.
The top eight seeds host their games on campus for the first round. Annapolis, Maryland and Hempstead, New York, will host two quarterfinal games apiece the weekend of May 19-20. Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, will be the site for the semifinals and championship game on May 26 and May 28.
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