Who will take the crown in men's and women's college lacrosse?
The GIST: Four elite women’s lax teams will duke it out in today’s semifinals for a chance to dance in Sunday’s championship game — same for the men in tomorrow’s semis and Monday’s ’ship. And with six of the eight competitors in both tournaments hailing from the ACC, expect some really bad blood.
The women: The first matchup is old guard vs. young guns — the top-seeded, one-loss Northwestern Wildcats are a verifiable lacrosse dynasty, while the undefeated No. 5 Denver Pioneers are competing in their first-ever semifinal. Expect fireworks today at 3 p.m. ET as the ’Cats’ powerful offense goes full-force at the Pios’ lockdown D.
- Then, at 5:30 p.m. ET, prepare for a major feud. No. 3 Boston College snapped bitter ACC rival No. 2 Syracuse's undefeated streak in April, so Syracuse is rarin’ for revenge. But BC has their own streak to defend — five straight trips to the ’ship. Time to fly.
The men: No. 5 Penn State has a steep hill to climb in their second-ever semis appearance tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET. They barely survived the first two rounds, scraping by with one-goal leads, and things certainly won’t get any easier against top-seeded Final Four vet Duke.
- Then, at 2:30 p.m. ET, another all–ACC matchup: No. 2 Virginia against the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. ND has only two losses all year — both to Virginia, and both when the Irish were ranked No. 1. In other words, there’ll be no love lost between these two powerhouses.
