University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Garners No. 8 Seed In NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament
May 6, 2007 | Men's Lacrosse
May 6, 2007
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--The Division I NCAA Men's Lacrosse Committee announced the field for its 2007 championship tournament Sunday night and the University of North Carolina has earned the No. 8 seed in the field of 16 teams. UNC (9-5) will play host to Patriot League champion Navy Saturday at 5 p.m. at Fetzer Field in a first-round game. The winner will advance to the NCAA quarterfinals at Annapolis, Md. on May 20. Saturday's game will be nationally televised by ESPNU.
"It's been a long season and we've played well and today that helped put us in a position to be one of the 16 teams who have a chance to compete for the national championship," said UNC head coach John Haus.
Gates will open at Fetzer Field at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Ticket prices are $5 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens.
Carolina is in the tournament for the second time in the past four years under the tutelage of coach Haus. Carolina also earned the No. 8 seed in 2004, beating Ohio State 13-6 in the first round before falling to top-seeded Johns Hopkins 15-9 in the quarterfinals.
Prior to 2004, Carolina had made the NCAA Tournament field only one time between 1997 and 2003. Carolina made the NCAA field 17 successive years from 1980-1996.
Navy comes into the tournament with a record of 11-3. Navy earned the automatic bid from the Patriot League after winning its conference tournament with a championship match win over Colgate. The Mids are coached by Tar Heel alumnus Richie Meade, '76.
The Midshipmen have had great success against the Tar Heels in recent years, winning the last five meetings in regular-season matchups from 2003-07. On March 2, Navy handed the Tar Heels their worst loss of 2007 with a 19-8 victory in Annapolis. Carolina's last win against the Mids was in an NCAA record six-overtime game at Fetzer Field in 2002. Overall, Navy leads the series 11-10.
"We know we have a tough first-round assignment against a good Navy team," said Haus. "Navy has had great success against us the last five times we've played and we will look to turn that around on Saturday. Everyone in our program is focused on representing the University of North Carolina well in this championship tournament."
Navy has made the NCAA field for the 24th time and North Carolina for the 22nd time. The two teams rank fifth and sixth in total tournament appearances, respectively.
Carolina played eight of its 14 games to date against teams that made the NCAA Tournament field, going 3-5 in those games. Carolina beat No. 3 seed Johns Hopkins as well as tournament entrants Notre Dame and Providence in the regular season.
The 16-team field includes seven conference champions with automatic qualification - American East Conference (University at Albany), Colonial Athletic Association (University of Delaware), Eastern College Athletic Conference (Georgetown University), Great Western Lacrosse League (University of Notre Dame), Ivy League (Cornell University), Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (Providence College) and Patriot League (U.S. Naval Academy). The rest of the field was selected at large.
Both Syracuse University and Johns Hopkins University have won the event eight times. Since 1988, either Syracuse or Princeton has won every year except Johns Hopkins' 1987 and 2005 victories, University of North Carolina's 1991 victory and the University of Virginia's 1999, 2003 and 2007 titles. Johns Hopkins is the only team to have made the championship bracket every year except 1971 - 36 times.
North Carolina is 24-17 in its 21 previous tournament appearances. The Tar Heels won NCAA championships in 1981, 1982, 1986 and 1991.
The Division I semifinal and championship games, and the Division II and III championship games, will be held at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, May 26-28. The Division I semifinals will be televised live on ESPN2 starting at Noon Eastern time, May 26. The championship game will be televised live on ESPN starting at 1 p.m. Eastern time, May 28.
The championship hosts are Johns Hopkins University; Loyola College (Maryland); the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and Towson University. This is the only NCAA team sport that holds the championships of all three divisions at a common site. The 2008 championship will travel to Boston, Massachusetts.
For ticket information for all games in Baltimore, May 26-28, call 410/261-7283.
