The NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse Championships conclude this weekend with their respective national semifinals and finals. Only one school has teams still in the running in both tournaments: the University of Maryland.
What Alabama is to college football, Maryland has been to college lacrosse. The Terrapins are back to defend their titles in both the men’s and women’s national tournaments, and both teams are this year’s No. 1 seeds.
Maryland’s men’s and women’s programs are each appearing in their 26th national semifinals. The women have made the national semifinals 10 years in a row, and the men five straight times.
The women’s semifinals kick off Friday in Stony Brook, New York, with Maryland facing No. 4 Boston College — the same team the Terrapins beat in last year’s national title game. The winner will face No. 2 North Carolina or No. 3 James Madison for the championship Sunday.
The men play their semifinals Saturday and championship game on Monday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Maryland and ex-conference rival Duke, the fourth seed, face off in one game. The winner will advance to the title game on Memorial Day and take on either No. 2 Albany or No. 3 Yale.
Maryland’s two programs share something else in common: Each is led by a finalist for the 2018 Tewaaraton Award, Division I lacrosse’s version of the Heisman Trophy. Senior midfielder Connor Kelly has 45 goals and 33 assists this season to date, and senior attack Megan Whittle leads the women’s side with 83 goals and 15 assists.
The women’s program is seeking to expand its NCAA record of 14 national championships to 15. Cathy Reese has been the Terrapins’ coach for four of those titles. Another eight were won under the reign of coach Cindy Timchal, including seven straight from 1995 to 2001.
Timchal now coaches nearby Navy, the team Maryland narrowly defeated 17-15 in last weekend’s quarterfinals to advance.
On the men’s side, the Terrapins were national runners-up in 2015 and 2016 before breaking through in 2017 by beating Big Ten rival Ohio State in the title game. The win cured a dry spell in which the men had not claimed a national championship since 1975.
If Maryland faces Albany in Monday’s championship game, it would double as a rematch of their regular season meeting. It was one of the three games the Terrapins lost all season, 11-10 in College Park.
ESPN2 will air the men’s semifinals; Maryland plays Duke at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and the title game will be contested 1 p.m. on Memorial Day. The women’s championship game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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