Syracuse women’s lacrosse earns No. 5 seed in NCAA Tournament

The Syracuse Orange women’s lacrosse team earned the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Division I Tournament that was revealed in the selection show on Sunday night.

The Orange are matched up in the first round with the champions of the MAAC, Fairfield, who they will play this Friday, May 13. The Stags went 13-6 this year and defeated the No. 1 seed Monmouth in the MAAC tournament on Sunday to earn their AQ into the NCAAs.

If the Orange defeat the Stags, they will play the winner of the game between UMass and Princeton on Sunday, May 15 for a chance to go to the tournament quarterfinals.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that Syracuse is the seeded team in this portion of the bracket, they will be unable to host the games due to the SU graduation ceremonies taking place this weekend. The games will instead be played at Princeton. According to a press release from the university, ‘Cuse is unable to host this weekend because:

“The Orange are the highest seed at the site but could not host the first and second rounds because the NCAA’s minimum requirements for hotels and lodging could not be met”.

So, the reason is actually not because the Dome will be used for the commencement ceremony, it’s because there is not enough hotel space to accommodate three visiting lacrosse teams when added on top of all the families that will already be in town using hotel space because of graduation.

This is a really unfortunate turn of events for this team, especially for all the players who were deprived of one final weekend playing at home. It’s a double gut punch because it simultaneously takes the home-field advantage away from us and gives it to a good Princeton team, should we meet them in the second round.

Ultimately, though, it is what it is and the Orange need to just roll with it and show up and show out this weekend to keep their season going.

Syracuse will begin NCAA Tournament play this Friday, May 13 against Fairfield, with the game time TBD.