No. 1 seed North Carolina could advance to men's lacrosse quarterfinals at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium
A general view during a game between the Denver Outlaws and New York Lizards at Shuart Stadium at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY on Saturday, Aug 9, 2014. by Steven Ryan Credit: Steven Ryan
The top seed in the NCAA men’s lacrosse tournament could be coming through Long Island. North Carolina earned the ranking in the upcoming tournament after an 11-2 season.
The NCAA announced its 16-team tournament seeding Sunday night. The Tar Heels will host Monmouth (8-2) in the opening round Saturday. A victory would put North Carolina in the quarterfinals at Hofstra’s James M. Shuart Stadium on May 22.
Chris Gray, a senior who graduated from Shoreham-Wading River High School, leads North Carolina in goals (42), assists (35) and points (77).
North Carolina has five Long Island players, including sophomore midfielder Chris Nicholas (Chaminade, from Rockville Centre) and a trio of freshmen in Ethan Larson and Collin Krieg (both from Ward Melville) and Colin Reilly, a West Islip native who graduated from Avon Old Farms in Connecticut.
North Carolina leads the country in scoring at 17.08 goals per game.
No. 2 seed Duke (12-2) has nine Long Island players, highlighted by Bay Shore native Brennan O’Neill, a freshman attack who graduated from St. Anthony’s last year. O’Neill leads Duke in goals (38) and ranks third in points (46).
Virginia defeated Yale, 13-9, in the 2019 final. There was no tournament in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Maryland, Virginia, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Denver and Lehigh round out the top eight seeds and will host opening-round matchups. No Long Island schools made the tournament. Syracuse will play at Georgetown and Rutgers will play at Lehigh in the first round.
The championship game will be played at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut, on May 31.
