INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Syracuse has earned an at-large bid to the 2010 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Tournament and takes on BIG EAST foe and No. 4 seed Georgetown in Washington D.C. in the first round on Saturday, May 15 at 1 p.m. The Orange is making its ninth appearance in the national tournament.
Syracuse, under the guidance of third-year head coach Gary Gait, earned an at-large bid after winning six of its last eight games and posting a 13-6 record this season. It marks the fourth straight year the Orange has won 13 or more games. Syracuse tied for second place in the BIG EAST regular-season standings with a 6-2 league record and advanced to the final of the conference tournament. Georgetown won the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles and enters the tournament with a 13-5 record.
It will mark the third time the Orange and Hoyas have faced each other in the last three weeks. The teams met in the regular-season finale on May 1 in the Carrier Dome. The Hoyas posted a 10-9 victory to claim the BIG EAST regular-season championship. The squads met again in the finals of the BIG EAST Tournament last Saturday. Georgetown defeated Syracuse, 13-11, to win its first conference tournament title. The first-round NCAA Tournament matchup marks the 17th meeting between the two schools. The Hoyas own a 13-3 advantage in the series.
Syracuse and Georgetown are two of three BIG EAST schools to make the 16-team tournament field. Notre Dame also earned an at-large bid and will face No. 2 seed Northwestern in the first round. Maryland earned the No. 1 seed in this year’s tournament.
The winner of the Syracuse-Georgetown game will take on the winner between No. 5 seed James Madison and Stanford in the quarterfinals.
Syracuse is making its fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its fifth in the last six years. The Orange appeared in four straight NCAA Tournaments from 2000-03 and then returned to the national tournament in 2005. Syracuse has an all-time record of 4-8 in NCAA Tournament play. Last season, the Orange earned the No. 7 seed and hosted a playoff game in the Carrier Dome for the second consecutive year. Syracuse won its first-round contest for the third straight year, defeating Boston University, 20-10. In the quarterfinals, the Orange lost to No. 2 seed Maryland, 12-10.
Courtesy: SU Athletics
