NCAA Lacrosse Tournament First Round
This weekend marks the start of the NCAA Lacrosse Tournament, which for me is always a fun time even though the team I follow (Navy) wont be in this years tournament. So I thought I would try to predict the round by round winners.
Click "more" for predictions.
# 1 Virginia vs. Mount St. Mary's
This matchup features one of the many local teams in the 16 team field but I don't give the Mount much of a chance. Virginia has been going through a lot in the past few weeks but this team is so talented anything short of a Final 4 appearance would be a disappointment.
WINNER: Virginia
# 8 Stony Brook vs. Denver
Both of these teams enter the tournament on big winning streaks. Stony Brook with 8, Denver with 9 that started with a win over Stony Brook, Denver's streak also included a 12-4 thrashing of then # 6 Loyola. Denver's winning streak seems more impressive.
WINNER: Denver
# 5 Duke vs. Johns Hopkins
Who is this a tougher draw for, Duke has been amongst the top 5-7 teams all season long and though Hopkins snuck into the postseason it's still Johns Hopkins. But despite all the history and the success of Hopkins I don't see them getting past the Blue Devils, but if they do watch out.
WINNER: Duke
# 4 North Carolina vs. Delaware
This is another one of those matchups were I don't see the lower seed pulling off the upset. Delaware put on a nice run at the end to get into the tournament but facing UNC will be a tough task, the Tar Heels will be too much.
WINNER: North Carolina
# 3 Maryland vs. Hofstra
Maryland is another one of those big bad teams from the ACC, only 3 losses for the Terps this year and 2 were to the top seed Virginia. In the Terps last 2 games they have scored 35 goals, not good for Hofstra.
WINNER: Maryland
# 6 Princeton vs. Notre Dame
Princeton like Hopkins is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament and despite what they do in the regular season anything short of a deep run in the tournament is always a shocker. Notre Dame had a strong season but again I see the higher seed advancing.
WINNER: Princeton
# 7 Cornell vs. Loyola
Loyola was a top 25 team for most of the season but the come into the tournament losing 2 in a row, and is 0-4 this season against tournament teams. Cornell came up just short of winning the Ivy League, as much as I would like to go with Loyola their track record suggest otherwise.
WINNER: Cornell
# 2 Syracuse vs. Army
Army had a nice season winning the Patriot League and in doing so they beat arch rival Navy twice including the Championship, but Syracuse has only had 1 loss all year, this game for them should be as easy as Virginia's first round game.
WINNER: Syracuse
Check back in next week to see how I did and ill make my next round predictions.
