Photo courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics
The Quinnipiac Bobcats and the Hartford Hawks will meet in the preliminary round of the 2016 NCAA men’s lacrosse tournament. The teams will play on Wednesday May 11 at 4 p.m. at the QU Lacrosse Turf Complex. Both teams won their respective conference tournaments, and received automatic bids to the national tournament.
The Quinnipiac Bobcats, under head coach Eric Fekete, went undefeated in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season, a perfect 6-0. Players like senior captain Ryan Keenan, the teams top point getter, and redshirt junior net minder Jack Brust propelled the Bobcats to victory all season. Come the MAAC tournament, the Bobcats hosted as the top seed. Quinnipiac defeated the Marist Red Foxes 13-9 to advance to its first national tournament in program history.
The Hartford Hawks slid into the America East conference tournament following a 3-3 regular season record. Freshman Dylan Jinks has led the charge with 58 points on the season. After losing to both the University of Albany and the University of Vermont in the regular season, the No. 4 seed caught fire in the postseason. In the semifinals, the Hawks defeated the Great Danes 11-10 in overtime, and then went on to exact revenge against the Catamounts. Hartford beat Vermont 17-16 in the championship game, clinching its first NCAA tournament since 2011. Hartford became the first ever No. 4 seed to win the America East conference tournament.
Quinnipiac and Hartford have played each other every year since 2010. The Hawks won six in a row until this season, when the Bobcats prevailed on the road in overtime, 11-10. Each of the last seven games has been decided by no more than three goals.
The winner of Wednesday’s game will travel to play the University of Maryland Terrapins, the number one overall seed in the tournament. The game is slated for Sunday afternoon in College Park, Md. at 12:30 p.m. and will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
