STANDISH, Maine - The 2015 NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament bracket has been announced and Saint Joseph's College (17-1, 9-0 GNAC) will be facing Bridgewater State University (12-8, 5-2 MASCAC) in the opening round at Bowdoin College on Saturday at 1:00 PM.
Saint Joseph's defeated Lasell College, 10-3, last Sunday to claim the program's first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) title while Bridgewater State topped Westfield State University, 13-12 in overtime, on Saturday to earn automatic berths into the NCAA Tournament. Bridgewater State will be making its sixth-consecutive appearance - and seventh overall - in the national tournament, while the trip to the NCAA's is a first for the Saint Joseph's program, which began varsity play in the spring of 2008.
The winner of Saturday's first round contest between the Monks and the Bears will advance to play #5 Bowdoin, which received an at-large bid, in the Second Round on Sunday, May 10th in a 1:00 PM start.
MUCH MORE TO COME!!
NCAA RELEASE:
The championship provides for a 38-team tournament. Twenty-six conferences have been awarded automatic qualification for the championship. Four teams have been selected from Pool B, which consists of independent institutions and institutions that are members of conferences that do not meet the requirements for automatic qualification.
The final eight berths are reserved for Pool C, which includes the remaining institutions in conferences with automatic qualification that are not the conference champion plus remaining independents and members of non-qualifying conferences.
Six first-round games will be conducted on Saturday, May 9 with the winners advancing to the second round. Sixteen second-round games will be conducted on Sunday, May 10 with the winners advancing to one of four regional sites Saturday and Sunday, May 16-17.
Winners of the four regionals will advance to the semifinals and final, which take place Saturday and Sunday, May 23-24 at PPL Park in Philadelphia. Saint Joseph's University and Widener University will serve as hosts for the championship.
Conferences and Teams Receiving Automatic Qualification (26):
Capital Athletic Conference: Salisbury University (14-3)
Centennial Conference: Franklin & Marshall College (17-2)
Colonial States Athletic Conference: Cabrini College (14-5)
Commonwealth Coast Conference: Western New England (16-2)
Commonwealth Conference: Messiah College (14-4)
Empire 8: St. John Fisher College (14-5)
Freedom Conference: Farleigh Dickinson University, Florham (16-3)
Great Northeast Athletic Conference: St. Joseph's College (Maine) (17-1)
Liberty League: Union College (New York) (13-3)
Little East Athletic Conference: Keene State College (7-11)
Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference: Bridgewater State University (12-8)
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association: Albion College (15-2)
Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference: Concordia University Wisconsin (13-6)
New England Collegiate: Regis College (Massachusetts) (13-5)
New England Small College Athletic Conference: Trinity College (Connecticut) (17-1)
New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (16-2)
New Jersey Athletic Conference: The College of New Jersey (16-3)
North Atlantic Conference: Castleton State College (16-2)
North Coast Athletic Conference: Denison University (11-6)
North Eastern Athletic Conference: Morrisville State College (11-7)
Ohio Athletic Conference: University of Mount Union (18-0)
Old Dominion Athletic Conference: Washington & Lee University (15-2)
Skyline Conference: St. Joseph's College (Long Island) (13-4)
Southern Athletic Association: Rhodes College (14-1)
State University of New York Athletic Conference: State University of New York at Cortland (17-1)
USA South Athletic Conference: Meredith College (12-6)
Pool B Berths (4):
Augustana College (Illinois) (18-1)
Catholic University (14-3)
Occidental College (11-6)
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (14-3)
Pool C Berths (8):
Bowdoin College (15-3)
Gettysburg College (15-3)
State University College at Fredonia (15-3)
Hamilton College (11-5)
Middlebury College (13-3)
University of the South (17-1)
Tufts University (11-6)
York College (Pennsylvania) (13-5)
#GOMONKS
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
