The NCAA women’s lacrosse universe is really ramping up in intensity today. The ocfofinals of the NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse tournament is being played at the eight seeded sites from last Sunday. This, just two days after a raft of runaway wins on Friday. Only two games in the first round had margins of victory of fewer than five goals — a one-goal win by James Madison over Penn State, and one-goal win by Denver over Stanford. I expect most of today’s Division I games to be razor’s edge in terms of margin.
In Division III, there are 16 second-round games at campus sites — although there is one game which won’t feature the home team. That game will feature Stevens Institute of Technology against Babson in a game being played at Springfield College.
So, what of Division II? Their selection show is this evening, meaning that 16 teams will be celebrating their berths into the bracket. It’s a far cry from 1998 and 1999, when the best Division II team was put into a “National Championship” bracket with the best full-scholarship teams in the sport. West Chester was the Division II independent at-large team invited in both years, but they never won a game.
But the Rams, currently undefeated at 16-0, are playing in the PSAC championship this afternoon against Kutztown. It’s likely that the Rams will have a top-four seed in the tournament, even with a defeat.
Have at it; this should be some great lacrosse.
