INDIANAPOLIS -- Making its fifth NCAA appearance and first since 2007, Albany's men's lacrosse program will visit fourth-seed Denver on Saturday, May 11 for its first-round NCAA contest. The game, which faces off at 7:30 p.m. EDT, will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
The entire NCAA men's lacrosse field of 16 was announced during the NCAA selection show Sunday on ESPN.
Albany (13-4), the 12th ranked team in the nation, earned America East's automatic bid to the tournament with a 19-10 win over UMBC in the league title game Saturday (Championship Game Recap). Lyle Thompson earned the championship's Most Outstanding Player honor by totaling a tournament-record 15 points in the Great Danes' two games.
The Great Danes will enter the NCAAs having won nine of their last 10 games and as the nation's top scoring team, averaging 16.1 goals per game. Lyle Thompson's 108 points (46 G, 62 A) leads the nation and ranks fourth all-time in NCAA single-season history.
Denver (12-4), an at-large selection, tied for the best record in the ECAC and was the top seed for its tournament. The Pioneers have wins over NCAA teams Ohio State, Duke and Loyola this year.
Albany is one of three America East programs to win NCAA first round game since 2007. The Great Danes beat Loyola that year and nearly reached the Final Four, falling to Cornell, 12-11 in overtime, in the quarterfinals.
The 16-team field includes eight conference champions with automatic qualification — America East Conference (Albany), Big East Conference (Syracuse), Colonial Athletic Association (Towson), Eastern College Athletic Conference (Ohio State), The Ivy League (Yale), Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (Detroit), Northeast Conference (Bryant) and Patriot League (Lehigh). The remainder of the field was selected at large: Cornell, Denver, Duke, Loyola (Md.), Maryland, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Penn State.
The Division I semifinal and championship games, along with the Division II and III championship games, will be held at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa., May 25-27 and hosted by Drexel. All Division I first round will be televised on ESPNU or ESPN2 May 11 and 12. The quarterfinal games will also all be televised on ESPN2 or ESPNU May 18 and 19. The Division I semifinals will be televised live on ESPN2 May 25. The championship game will be televised live on ESPN on May 27.