Men's Lacrosse Championship Seeding Announced
Connecticut College Secures Top Seed for First Time in Tournament History
HADLEY, Mass. – With a 7-5 win over Wesleyan on Friday
afternoon, Connecticut College secured the top seed in the upcoming
2010 NESCAC Men’s Lacrosse Championship. The Camels completed
the conference slate with a program-best showing of 8-1 and claimed
the number-one seed for the first time ever. Connecticut College
will host a quarterfinal contest on Sunday, May 2, along with
Tufts, Bowdoin and Amherst. Teams that advance out of
Sunday’s first round action will meet in the semifinals on
Saturday, May 8, at the highest remaining seed.
Connecticut College (14-1, 8-1 NESCAC) capped the best regular season in program history with its first win over Wesleyan since 2005. The Camels’ rise to the top of the conference ranks this spring marks an incredible turnaround, as they finished in last place a year ago with a 1-8 league record. The only blemish for Connecticut College so far was a 12-9 setback at Colby last Saturday, a loss that snapped a 13-game winning streak for the Camels. Connecticut College will face a familiar foe in Sunday’s quarterfinals when it clashes with eighth-seeded Wesleyan (7-7, 3-6 NESCAC) for the second time in three days. The Cardinals are on the road in the first round for the first time ever, having collected only two wins in their last six outings. Both victories were critical though for the defending NESCAC champions, as last weekend’s 16-8 win against Amherst guaranteed them a spot in this year’s playoffs. Sunday’s quarterfinal showdown will be only the second in tournament history between the two teams after Wesleyan won the first in overtime in 2003, 8-7. The Cardinals have reached the semifinals every year they have appeared in the NESCAC championship, finishing as runner-up in four consecutive years (2004-07) before winning its first title last May. A win for the Camels would put them in the semifinals for only the second time ever.
Although it knew that it had already secured a home quarterfinal contest, Tufts (13-1, 8-1 NESCAC) had an outside chance at claiming the number-one seed heading into the final day of the regular season. The Jumbos didn’t get the help they needed, though, as they finished tied with Connecticut College at 8-1 and lost the tie-breaker due to the Camels’ 8-6 win on April 17. The setback has proven to be the only one for Tufts so far this season, as the Jumbos are riding a three-game winning streak which includes a 14-13 overtime decision over Bowdoin on Friday evening. The victory matched the program record of 13 which they have achieved four times in the last seven seasons. Tufts will now host seventh-seeded Williams (5-9, 4-5 NESCAC) in the quarterfinals for the second time in three years. The last meeting proved to be the first meeting in tournament play between these foes, and the lower-seeded Ephs came away with a 14-6 victory in 2008 en route to their first NESCAC title. Williams got off to a quick start this season with three victories to open the 2010 campaign, but since then they have only won twice in their last 11 outings. Six of Williams’ nine losses during that stretch have come by a margin of two goals or less, including Friday’s 4-3 loss to Middlebury.
A four-way tie occurred for third in the NESCAC standings, with Amherst, Bowdoin, Colby and Middlebury all finishing with identical 5-4 records. Applying conference tie-breakers to the group, the Lord Jeffs and the Polar Bears both had 2-1 records against tied teams while the Mules and Panthers were 1-2. Amherst (7-6, 5-4 NESCAC) earned the advantage for the third spot over Bowdoin thanks to its 13-8 win on March 27. Things didn’t start off to well for Amherst in their season finale match at Trinity. After spotting the Bantams a 5-0 lead, the Jeffs recovered and eventually won in overtime, 11-10, and that combined with Bowdoin’s loss meant that Amherst was guaranteed its highest finish in the conference standings since 2005. The Jeffs will host the sixth-seeded Panthers of Middlebury (9-4, 5-4 NESCAC) in a rematch from last year’s first round. The seven-time NESCAC champions, Middlebury moved to 4-0 in tournament play against Amherst in 2009 with a 16-7 win as the top seed. Friday’s 4-3 win over Williams was the fourth victory in the last five games for the Panthers, and they took the lone meeting with Amherst this season at home on April 7, 14-6. Middlebury has advanced to the semifinals every year that the championship has been held. Amherst, meanwhile, is looking to play in semis for the first time since 2005.
The final first round matchup pits Maine rivals Bowdoin (8-6, 5-4 NESCAC) against Colby (10-5, 5-4 NESCAC). The fourth-seeded Polar Bears had their five-game winning streak halted at Tufts in overtime on Friday (14-13) but had the security of knowing that regardless of the outcome it would be home on Sunday afternoon. The Mules are back in the NESCAC championship for the second-straight year after making their first appearance since 2002 last April. If Sunday’s first round contest is anything like the regular season meeting between the two squads on April 7, then fans will be in for a treat. Bowdoin rallied from a two-goal deficit with a four-goal fourth quarter to edge Colby by an 11-10 score. This will be the second time in postseason history that the Mules and the Polar Bears will face one another. Colby won the first meeting in the semifinals of the 2002 tournamentto make its only appearance in the championship game. Bowdoin has gotten to the final on two occasions (2001, 2008), both times finishing as the runner-up.
2010 NESCAC MEN’S
LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals - Sunday, May 2 at Higher Seeds
No. 8 Wesleyan at No. 1 Connecticut College - 1:00 p.m.
No. 7 Williams at No. 2 Tufts - 1:00 p.m.
No. 6 Middlebury at No. 3 Amherst - 2:30 p.m.
No. 5 Colby at No. 4 Bowdoin - TBA
Semifinals - Saturday, May 8 at Highest Remaining
Seed
Highest remaining seed vs. Lowest remaining seed - 12:00 p.m.
Remaining first round winners - 3:00 p.m.
Championship - Sunday, May 9
Semifinal winners - 12:00 p.m.