ITHACA, N.Y. -- Hartford's men's lacrosse team, fresh off its first-ever America East title, will make its NCAA debut on Saturday when the Hawks take on second-seeded Cornell at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU and begins at 7:30 p.m.
Both teams are nationally ranked with the Hawks, who are 18th in USILA Coaches' Poll 20th in the Inside Lacrosse media poll, cracking the nation's top-20 for the first time since 2000. Cornell (13-2) ranked second in both polls.
Winners of three straight and four of their last five, Hartford (11-6) earned their NCAA bid with a thrilling, 11-10, win over Stony Brook in the
America East Championship game on May 7. Junior Ryan Compitello scored
the game-winning goal with just one second on the clock.
Hartford's Tim Fallon dominated the faceoff circle against the
Seawolves, 16-8, and won 26-of-43 draws in the tournament to go with 26
ground balls en route to earning Most Outstanding Player honors. The
2010 All-American ranks second nationally averaging 9.29 ground balls
per game and seventh winning 62.7 percent of his draws. The Hawks' Scott Bement, Carter Bender and Conor Flynn earned All-Championship honors along with Fallon.
America East is seeking its fourth NCAA in since 2007 attempting to send its fourth different team to the quarterfinal round. Of the six Division I conferences that receive an NCAA automatic qualifier to the Men’s Lacrosse Championship (America East, CAA, ECAC, Ivy, MAAC, Patriot), America East is the only one to have three different programs reach the NCAA quarterfinal round within the last four years. Albany and UMBC won first-round contests, over Loyola and Maryland, respectively, in 2007, and Stony Brook defeated Denver in the first round last season.