May 2, 2008

WD2: No. 3 Adelphi at No. 1 C.W. Post
Friday, 4 p.m.

Hook: Both teams are undefeated, with this being a probable Division II semifinal preview and the ECC title being all but a formality. C.W. Post ranks atop the IWLCA poll for the 20th consecutive week.

MD1: GWLL Tournament (in Birmingham, Mich.)
Semifinals
#4 Quinnipiac vs. #1 Notre Dame - Friday, 5 p.m.
#3 Denver vs. #2 Ohio State - Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Championship Game
Sunday, 12 p.m.

Hook: Denver, Notre Dame and Ohio State all boast NCAA tournament-worthy numbers. But like the Patriot Leaguers, these games could cause certain RPI shifts that won't have any of the runners-up sleeping easily Saturday night, should they get ousted Friday.

WD1: CAA Tournament (in Williamsburg, Va.)
Semifinals
#4 Delaware vs. #1 William and Mary - Friday, 5 p.m.
#3 Towson vs. #2 George Mason - Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Championship Game
Sunday, 1 p.m.

Hook: Though Mason and Towson have both had banner years, Mason's the only team with legitimate at-large potential, and neither of those teams is even the top seed - that belongs to William and Mary.

MD1: No. 8 Cornell at Hobart
Friday, 7 p.m.

Hook: In light of last Saturday's announcement that the Statesmen would return to Division III, this was to mark the end of a 14-year era in Division I. Then, late Thursday, Hobart's administration reversed engines, and decided to remain Division I. Either way, emotions sure to run high in this, the latest (but not last) installment of the Statesmen's oldest (since 1898) rivalry.

WD1: No. 15 Cornell at No. 10 Notre Dame
Saturday, 12 p.m.

Hook: Quietly, Cornell has set itself up nicely to become the third team in the NCAA tournament out of the Ivy League, by winning six of its last seven and assembling the country's No. 9 RPI, according to NCAA reports. Though ranked lower in the IWLCA poll, the Big Red is in better RPI position than Notre Dame. That said, it lacks the big win, of which Notre Dame has two (Georgetown, Duke). The selection of one of these two teams could come to a head here.

MD1: No. 1 Syracuse at No. 12 Colgate
Saturday, 1 p.m.

Hook: Glance by it at first, but this game could have huge implications. Never mind that the Raiders pasted the Orange in the 2007 season finale to stamp a miserable aberration of a season for Syracuse, and the inherent redemptive factor. Should red-hot Colgate swing an upset, its Patriot League counterparts on the bubble (Army, Bucknell and Navy), could see big RPI boosts as well.

MD1: No. 14 Princeton at No. 19 Brown
Saturday, 1 p.m.

Hook: If Princeton wins, it locks up the Ivy League bid. If Brown wins, it goes to Cornell, and puts Princeton in the precarious position of hoping for an at-large berth despite no overwhelming wins to speak of. The spoiler, Brown, looks like the odd man out either way, barring a series of upsets elsewhere, despite one of its most successful seasons in recent memory.

WD1: No. 6 Princeton at No. 7 Georgetown
Saturday, 1 p.m.

Hook: The Tigers are in trouble, if their 18-9 loss Wednesday to Maryland was any indication. It was the most lopsided outcome in the series since 1984. Minus Katie Lewis-Lamonica (ACL), who should return for the NCAA tournament after foregoing surgery for a knee brace, Princeton is quite beatable. Seeding implications make this top-10 game worthy of watching, though both teams are safely in. In a way, freshmen-laden Georgetown is in a similar position to where Princeton was in 2006 when it "upset" Virginia in the first round - the Hoyas are dangerous.

MD1: CAA Tournament
Championship Game #2 Hofstra at #1 Drexel - Saturday, 5 p.m.

Hook: Drexel has waited a long time to be in this position. Hofstra has big game experience on its side, starting with head coach Seth Tierney. The regular season meeting between these two (won by Drexel in overtime) was one of the most entertaining displays of college lacrosse all year. The CAA championship game should not disappoint.

MD1: America East Tournament
Championship Game
#2 Albany vs. #1 UMBC - Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

Hook: The host Retrievers survived a scare Thursday, defeating Binghamton in overtime, and Albany is dangerous, if not as deep as it was last year. Some project UMBC as being in the NCAA tournament regardless of this outcome, but sheer numbers

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