INDIANAPOLIS - The top-ranked Salisbury
University women's lacrosse team will serve as a NCAA Division III
tournament regional host for the sixth year in a row as the 2008
field was announced Sunday evening by the selection committee. The
Sea Gulls are the top-seed in the 25-team field and will host a
second round game on Saturday, May 10, at Sea Gull Stadium.
Salisbury (20-0), the top overall seed in this year's
tournament, will face the winner of Wednesday's first round game
between Fairleigh Dickinson and St. Mary's (Md.) College. The Sea
Gulls will host their second round game at 11:30 a.m. SU defeated
St. Mary's 18-7 in the Capital Athletic Conference championship on
April 25. The Sea Gulls are 2-0 against the Seahawks this season.
The other second round game in the regional will begin at 2:30 p.m.
and pit winners of two first round games. Catholic University of
America will travel to Christopher Newport University on Wednesday
while Rowan University hosts Montclair State University in first
round action with the winners advancing in the Salisbury regional.
The Salisbury regional championship will be held on Sunday, May 11,
at 1 p.m. in Sea Gull Stadium.
The Sea Gulls are making their ninth NCAA tournament appearance
since 1999 and sixth straight under the guidance of SU coach
Jim Nestor. Salisbury has reached the NCAA
championship game twice in the past three years. The Sea Gulls are
14-8 overall eight NCAA tournament appearances and 8-2 in the
past five regionals held at SU. Salisbury has reached the NCAA
semifinals four times (2000, '04, '05, '07). The maroon and gold
will enter the NCAA tournament with a Division III best
20-game win streak.
The three other regional hosts for next weekend (May
10-11) are No. 2 The College of New Jersey, No. 3
Franklin & Marshall College and No. 4 Hamilton College.
Salisbury lost to Franklin & Marshall 11-8 in last season's
national title game. In 2005, the Sea Gulls lost to TCNJ, 9-7, as
the Lions went on to repeat in 2006.
The Sea Gulls faced six teams that are in the 25-team field this
season. Salisbury defeated F&M, TCNJ, SUNY Cortland, St. Mary's
(twice), Catholic and Christopher Newport.
The winner of the Salisbury regional will face the winner of the
Hamilton regional in the semifinals on Saturday, May 17, at 11:30
a.m. in Salem, Va. The winner of the F&M regional will face the
winner of the TCNJ regional in the other semifinal at 2:30 p.m. in
Donald J. Kerr Stadium. The 2008 NCAA Division III national
championship will be played on Sunday, May 18, at Noon.
Salisbury University is the only school, in any NCAA division,
to have the top-seeded teams in both men's and women's lacrosse
tournament fields this season.
Also see:
