The North Carolina women’s lacrosse team will begin defense of its 2016 national championship as the No. 2 overall seed in this year’s tournament while the Tar Heel men, who are also coming off a national title, will begin their postseason run on the road.
Duke was also selected to play in the men’s tournament while High Point and Elon were the other state schools receiving bids to the women’s event during selection shows Sunday night. As one of the top six national seeds, UNC’s women (16-2) received a first round bye. Coach Jenny Levy’s Tar Heels will play their first game at home on Sunday against the winner of Friday’s matchup between ACC rival Virginia (11-8) and Elon (13-8). High Point (15-3) will play at Towson (12-6) on Friday with the winner advancing to a second round game at top-seeded Maryland two days later. Besides UNC and UVa., four other ACC teams earned spots in the 26-team women’s bracket. The others are sixth-seeded Syracuse, Boston College, Louisville and Notre Dame. The entire women’s bracket can be found by clicking here. On the men’s side, UNC barely snuck into the field after winning the ACC tournament championship last week. Coach Joe Breschi’s 8-7 Tar Heels will travel to upstate New York on Saturday to take on eighth-seeded No. 8 Albany (14-2) in a 7:30 p.m. game that will be televised by ESPNU. The winner faces a potential quarterfinal date against top-seeded Maryland in Newark, Del. on Sunday, May 21. Duke (12-4) was also unseeded and will play at No. 6 Johns Hopkins (12-4) at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday with the winner advancing to a quarterfinal matchup against either third-seeded Ohio State or Loyola (Md.) in Hempstead, N.Y. on Saturday, May 20. Two other ACC teams — No. 2 seed Syracuse and No. 4 Notre Dame — were also included in the 17-team field. The entire men’s bracket can be found by clicking here. Both the men’s and women’s Division I Final Four will be held at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on Memorial Day weekend. North Carolina will also be represented in the Division II tournament, with Lenoir-Rhyne playing host to Tampa and Wingate traveling to Limestone in first round men’s games Saturday. If both win, they would be matched against each other in the national semifinals. Queens. Meanwhile, will take on Regis (Col.) in a first round women’s game in St. Charles, Mo., on Friday with the winner taking on top-seeded Lindenwood (Mo.) 24 hours later.
