University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Earn No. 2 NCAA Seed
May 7, 2017 | Women's Lacrosse
CHAPEL HILL—Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and tournament champion North Carolina has earned the No. 2 seed in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, the NCAA announced on Sunday night with the release of its 26-team field. Carolina, an automatic qualifier as the ACC champion, will host NCAA games on Friday May 12 and Sunday May 14 at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill.
Virginia and Elon will meet in the first round at 5 p.m. on Friday. The winner will advance to play UNC in the second round at 1 p.m. on Sunday in Chapel Hill. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for both seniors and students aged 7 through 17.
The Tar Heels enter the NCAA Tournament with a 16-2 record, including a 6-1 ACC record that captured their third consecutive conference regular season title. Carolina won its second straight ACC Tournament last weekend, beating Duke, Boston College and Syracuse by an average of over seven goals per game.
"We are excited to go back to the NCAA Tournament," head coach Jenny Levy said on Sunday night. "Each year one of our team goals is to earn a top-four seed through our performance in the regular season and ACC Tournament. I am proud of the hard work and overall growth of this team. They have proven to be tough and resilient as we worked our way through an incredibly challenging schedule.
"The NCAA field of 26 teams is extremely competitive. There are so many great players, coaches and teams that every game will be a battle. We feel fortunate to have the opportunity to compete and look forward to taking Fetzer Field on Sunday."
Carolina is the defending NCAA champion, having won the national title last spring for the second time in four years (2013, 2016). The Tar Heels earn an NCAA Tournament bid for the 13th year in a row and the 19th time overall. Levy's 29 NCAA Tournament wins rank fourth in NCAA history.
UNC is a top-five seed for the ninth year in a row. Carolina is making its 19th NCAA Tournament appearance in 22 years as a varsity program. The Tar Heels are 29-16 in NCAA Tournament games and have made nine semifinal appearances (1997, 1998, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016), including six in the last eight years.
Maryland is the No. 1 overall seed, followed by No. 2 seed UNC and No. 3 seed Florida. Penn State is the No. 4 seed, Princeton is No. 5, Syracuse is No. 6, Penn is No. 7 and Stony Brook is No. 8. ACC schools Virginia, Boston College, Notre Dame and Louisville made the field as unseeded teams.
The NCAA semifinals and final will be played on May 26 and 28 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., home of the NFL's New England Patriots.
