The NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament featured a pair of quarterfinal upsets Saturday as No. 7-seeded Virginia downed No. 2 Cornell, 13-9, and No. 4 Johns Hopkins lost to No. 6 Denver, 14-9, at Hofstra University's James Shuart Stadium in Hempstead. On Sunday, the action moves to Foxborough, MA and Gillette Stadium with the top-seeded Syracuse Orange facing unranked Maryland (noon on ESPNU) and No. 4 Notre Dame against No. 5 Duke (2:30 p.m. on ESNPU). The winners will face each other in the semifinals, which will take place next Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, MD.
The Orange (15-1), who advanced to the quarterfinals with a 10-4 victory over Siena College last Sunday, are trying to earn their NCAA record 11th* National Championship. Senior Stephen Keogh leads the Orange in goals (33) and points (41), while senior Joel White, a long-stick midfielder, is one of five national players named as a Tewaaraton Award finalist (NCAA MVP). Also a Tewaaraton finalist is the anchor to SU's defense, senior goalie John Galloway.
(*SU won the 1990 National Championship, but it was vacated by the NCAA. The school still honors that vacated championship.)
As a freshman and sophomore, Galloway helped the Orange earn a national title and, in early April, he became the NCAA's all-time winningest goalkeeper. Galloway is in the discussion as the greatest SU goalie ever and a third national championship would help his argument.
The matchup against Maryland favors the Orange, who have won five of the last six against Maryland. The Terps (11-4), who are the 2011 ACC Champions, upset No. 8 North Carolina, 13-6, last Sunday to become the only unranked program to advance to the quarterfinals in the 16-team tournament.
Sunday's second game features a rematch of last year's national championship game, which had Duke defeating Notre Dame, 6-5.
Here's the updated NCAA Lacrosse Bracket:
- Virginia 13,
Cornell 9 - Denver 14,
Johns Hopkins 9 - (1) Syracuse vs. Maryland — Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA (12 p.m on ESPNU).
- (4) Notre Dame vs. (5) Duke — Sunday at Gillette Stadium (2:30 p.m on ESPNU).
For full coverage of the tournament check out SB Nation's College Crosse.