Hofstra gets at-large bid in NCAA tourney
Hofstra head coach Seth Tierney shouts to his team during a timeout late in the fourth quarter against Delaware in the CAA men's lacrosse semifinal game. Hofstra lost, 10-9. (May 4, 2011) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The pride has been restored to the Hofstra men's lacrosse program.
In falling in a one-goal game to eventual CAA champ Delaware for the second time this season on Wednesday, Hofstra put its NCAA Tournament hopes in jeopardy. But the committee rewarded the Pride's 13-2 record with an at-large berth in the 2011 tournament Sunday night. Unseeded Hofstra will play at No. 3 Johns Hopkins at noon on Saturday on ESPN2.
A win would give Hofstra a home game in the quarterfinals on May 21. The Pride's Shuart Stadium was a predetermined quarterfinal site, along with Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The Final Four will be played at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on May 28 and 30.
It is Hofstra's 17th NCAA Tournament. The Pride has never made a Final Four, but has advanced to the quarterfinals four times, the last in 2006. Hofstra is 0-4 against Johns Hopkins in the tournament. Pride coach Seth Tierney is a Johns Hopkins alum and served as an assistant to Blue Jays coach Dave Pietramala.
"I spent 10 years of my life on that campus," Tierney said. "After the way our season ended with the loss to Delaware, the last four days have been very stressful. To say we're excited would be an understatement."
Big East winner Syracuse nabbed the top seed, while defending champion Duke, which got the No. 5 seed as an at-large will host Delaware.
Denver, the six seed, will host the first NCAA Tournament game west of the Mississippi River.
After Stony Brook's last-second, 11-10 loss to Hartford in Saturday's America East final, Seawolves coach Rick Sowell saw the writing on the wall. "No way, no chance," Sowell said when asked about his team's chances for an at-large bid, which did not materialize. "If we beat Towson and have a better result against Cornell, maybe. But we didn't."
In Division II, two-time defending champion C.W. Post will play host to Mercyhurst. Adelphi earned an at-large bid and will travel to South Carolina to play Limestone.
On the women's side, Northwestern, which had its run of five straight national titles end last season, is seeded second, while Maryland, which ended the Wildcats' streak, is the top seed. The women's Final Four will be contested at Stony Brook on May 27 and 29.
Undefeated Adelphi, the two-time defending champion, is the top seed in the women's Division II bracket. The Panthers will play the Dowling-Le Moyne winner on May 22 in a semifinal.
