Orange men's lacrosse draws top seed

After being crowned co-champions of the final Big East men's lacrosse regular season and cruising to a conference tournament title, the Syracuse men's lacrosse team was rewarded with the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Orange (13-3) will face Northeast Conference champ Bryant (8-10) on Sunday, May 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.

The selection committee also rewarded Syracuse with its path through the 16-team tourney and to a potential 12th NCAA championship. After the Bulldogs, who are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, the Orange would face the winner of the matchup between No. 8 seed and CAA runner-up Penn State (12-4) and Ivy League tournament winner Yale (11-4) on Sunday, May 18 in College Park, Md. The semifinals are slated for May 25 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa, with the final to follow two days later.

Bryant earned the NEC's autobid by knocking off Sacred Heart and Robert Morris in the conference tournament. The Bulldogs are led by senior midfielder Colin Dunster (31 goals) and NEC Tournament most oustanding player Peter McMahon.

Bryant also boasts the nation's top faceoff specialist in Kevin Massa. The 5-foot-11, 210-pound sophomore leads the NCAA with a .713 faceoff win percentage, going 293-411 on the year. He also has an NCAA single-season record 223 ground balls.

The Orange earned the Big East's autobid with a 13-9 win over league co-champion Villanova (7-8) on Saturday. Sophomore attackman Kevin Rice led Syracuse with two goals and three assists, and junior Scott Loy added a career-high three goals.

Junior attackman Derek Maltz had two goals and two assists to pace the Orange in a 9-3 win over Notre Dame (10-4) in a tournament semifinal on Thursday, May 2. JoJo Marasco dished out four assists for Syracuse.

The Irish earned the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, and will host MAAC champion Detroit (5-9) on May 11 at 5 p.m on ESPNU.

ECAC tournament champion Ohio State (12-3) and Denver (12-4) round out the top four seeds. The Pioneers, who fell to the Buckeyes in the tournament final, host Albany (13-4) on May 11 at 7:30 p.m. on EPNU.

See the complete bracket for a complete list of tournament games, times and broadcast information.