Top-ranked Salisbury named NCAA regional host as tournament field announced
INDIANAPOLIS - The top-ranked Salisbury University women's lacrosse team will serve as a NCAA Division III tournament regional host for the seventh year in a row as the 2009 field was announced late Sunday night by the selection committee. The Sea Gulls are the top-seed in the 26-team field and will host a second round game on Saturday, May 9, at Sea Gull Stadium.
Salisbury (17-1), the top overall seed in this year's tournament, will face the winner of Wednesday's first round game between Farmingdale State College (11-3) and Babson College (14-2). The Sea Gulls will host their second round game at 11:30 a.m. Farmingdale State is making it's first-ever NCAA appearance while Babson is in the postseason for the third straight year. Catholic University of America (15-3) will host Messiah College (14-4) on Wednesday while University of Mary Washington (13-7) travels to Christopher Newport University (13-6) in first round action. The winners advance in the Salisbury regional and will meet on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The Salisbury regional championship will be held on Sunday, May 10, at 1 p.m. in Sea Gull Stadium.
The Sea Gulls are making their 10th NCAA tournament appearance since 1999 and seventh straight under the guidance of SU coach Jim Nestor. Salisbury has reached the NCAA championship game twice in the past four years. The Sea Gulls are 16-9 overall in nine NCAA tournament appearances and 10-2 in the past six regionals held at SU. Salisbury has reached the NCAA semifinals five times (2000, '04, '05, '07, '08).
The three other regional hosts are No. 2 Franklin & Marshall College (17-1), No. 3 Colby College (16-1) and No. 4 The College of New Jersey (15-2).
The Sea Gulls faced seven teams in the 26-team field this season. Salisbury defeated Catholic, Christopher Newport, Franklin & Marshall, Mary Washington (twice), Roanoke and TCNJ. The lone loss for SU came at home against Colby, 15-14, back on March 24.
The winner of the Salisbury regional will face the winner of the TCNJ regional in the semifinals on Saturday, May 16, at 5 p.m. in Salem, Va. The winner of the F&M regional will face the winner of the Colby regional in the other semifinal at 8 p.m. in Donald J. Kerr Stadium. The 2009 NCAA Division III national championship will be played on Sunday, May 17, at 3 p.m.
2009 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament
