No. 11 Spider Lacrosse Learns Fate In NCAA Championships
05/08/2006 | Women's Lacrosse
May 8, 2006
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - After capturing the program's second-straight A-10 Championship, the No. 11 University of Richmond women's lacrosse team earned the program's second invitation to the NCAA Championships in as many years and will face the eighth-seeded James Madison Dukes in the first round on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in Harrisonburg, Va.
The Spiders, now 16-3, are one of only 16 teams competing for the national championships. The field was announced Monday night.
Richmond, ranked No. 11th in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association national poll, received the conference's automatic berth after winning its second league title Sunday afternoon in Washington, D.C.
The top-seeded Spiders knocked off the fourth-seeded Massachusetts Minutewomen 10-5 in the semi-finals on Friday and then held off second-seeded Temple, 13-11, on Sunday to seal their trip to the NCAA's.
The No. 13 Dukes earned an automatic NCAA bid as the Colonial Athletic Association champion after beating Hofstra, 14-8, on Sunday to win their third CAA title in the last four years.
The Spiders and the Dukes last played in 2001 when the Dukes defeated the Spiders 12-10 in Harrisonburg.
The winner between the JMU-Richmond battle will advance to play the winner of Sunday's first-round contest between top-seeded Duke and Holy Cross. Quarterfinal-round games are scheduled for Saturday, May 20.