May 6, 2001
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team (12-1) earned a fifth seed in the 2001 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship and will play Bucknell(10-3) in first round action on Sun., May 13 at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.
The other North first-round matchup at the Michie Stadium site will be No. 8 seed Virginia (7-6) taking on Hofstra (9-6). The first game will begin at noon EDT, with the second contest starting 45 minutes following the conclusion of the first matchup. The NCAA has yet to announce game times for the two matchups at the site.
The winner of the Notre Dame-Bucknell game will take on No. 4 seed Johns Hopkins on Sun., May 20 at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md.
The Irish, champions of the Great Western Lacrosse League for the third straight season, are making their 10th overall appearance in the championship and ninth in the last 10 years. The number five seed is the highest ever for a Notre Dame team which has advanced to the quarterfinals twice after posting first-round wins in both 1995 and 2000. Last year, the Irish advanced to the quarterfinals after beating Loyola 15-13 in the first round, and also earned a first-round win in 1995 with a 12-10 win over Duke. Notre Dame has an overall 2-9 record in NCAA tournament play.
This will be the first-ever meeting between Notre Dame and Bucknell, champions of the Patriot League. The Irish and Bison have played three common opponents this season — Penn State, Pennsylvania and Army. Notre Dame was victorious against all three teams, while Bucknell has a 2-1 record versus the three common foes. The Irish defeated Nittany Lions 10-8 on the road and was a 10-8 and 16-4 winner at home against the Quakers and Cadets, respectively. Meanwhile, Bucknell posted an 11-10 victory at Army and 10-6 win at home against Penn State, but suffered an 11-3 loss to Pennsylvania on the road.
Notre Dame heads into the NCAA tournament having won seven straight games to end the regular season. The 12 wins represent the most in the 21-year history of the program, and its only loss this season was an 11-10 overtime decision at Hofstra on Mar. 24.
Bucknell is riding a three-game win streak entering the NCAA championship with its most recent loss coming against Georgetown on Apr. 4. In addition to the Pennsylvania and Georgetown losses, the Bison also dropped an 8-4 decision on the road at Maryland. Tickets for the two-game session are $12.00 for adults and $7.00 for youths and students. For more information on tickets, call the Notre Dame ticket office (219) 631-7356 or the ticket office at the United States Military at (845) 938-2526.
The top four seeds in the tournament Syracuse, the 2000 NCAA champion, Princeton, Maryland and Johns Hopkins – all received first-round byes. The other first-round matchups will be Towson against Duke and Loyola versus Georgetown. Both of those games will be played on Sat., May 12 at the University of Maryland-Baltimore-County in Baltimore, Md.