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May 7, 2007

by Matt DaSilva, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

There will be no pooh-poohing in Evanston this time.

A year after Northwestern was dealt an ignominious four seed - and won its second consecutive national championship, anyway - the Wildcats enter the 2007 NCAA tournament as the undisputed No. 1 seed, as determined Monday by the Division I women's lacrosse committee.

Northwestern is one of three seeded American Lacrosse Conference teams, headlining a field that also includes all four Atlantic Coast Conference schools and three teams from the Ivy League. The Wildcats (17-1) will host Patriot League champion Holy Cross (13-5).

All first-round games will be played Sunday, May 13.

Duke (14-3), which advanced to the NCAA semifinals in 2005 and 2006, drew the tournament's No. 2 seed, and hosts MAAC champion Le Moyne (16-4), which won its play-in game Saturday against Monmouth.

Virginia (16-3) notched the No. 3 seed, but was dealt arguably the most difficult match-up of any seeded entries. The Cavs play Princeton, which stumbled early but qualified at-large, presumably as a result of its late-season performance, which included a huge win Sunday over Georgetown on the heels of a narrow overtime loss to top-five Maryland.

Despite very strong RPI and strength of schedule positions, meanwhile, the Hoyas were forced out by losing four of their final seven games.

Ivy League champion Penn (14-1), whose only loss was to Northwestern, garnered the No. 4 seed, and plays surging America East champion Boston University (13-5), which quietly won its final nine games and has succeeded despite the offseason departures of leading scorer Jenny Hauser and head coach Liza Kelly.

Offensive-minded Maryland (15-3), the No. 5 seed, faces one of the nation's stingiest defenses when it hosts Yale (13-3).

North Carolina (15-4), the No. 6 seed and only team to tarnish Northwestern's record this season, advances to the NCAA tournament for the ninth time in 12 seasons under Jenny Levy. The Tar Heels face a dangerous team in Richmond (14-5), which is familiar with ACC teams and has played them tough in the past.

Johns Hopkins (11-7), which narrowly missed the tournament in 2006 and was in danger of doing so again before a 5-2 finish that included wins over Virginia and Vanderbilt, is a first-time seeded entry. The No. 7-seeded Blue Jays will play at CAA champion Hofstra (12-6), which bumped James Madison from at-large contention with a win in the conference title game.

Vanderbilt (11-5) won the No. 8 seed, presumably over its first-round opponent, Big East champion Syracuse (12-5).

Among the potential at-large teams who were excluded were Notre Dame, an NCAA semifinalist a year ago, and Denver, which lost in the MPSF championship game to Stanford.