The University of Massachusetts men's lacrosse team will try to improve its seed in the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament and enhances its NCAA Tournament resume when it travels to Drexel at 4 p.m. Saturday.

The Minutemen (8-4, 2-2 CAA) have already clinched a spot in the four-team conference tournament, which starts with semifinals Wednesday and concludes with the championship game May 8. All three games will be hosted by the higher seed.

Towson is the No. 1 seed as it enters this weekend 4-0 in CAA play. After that the playoff picture is less clear because UMass, Drexel and Delaware are all 2-2. Penn State at 1-3 also still has a chance to make the tournament field.

To earn the No. 2 seed and a home game on Wednesday, the Minutemen need to beat Drexel and have Delaware lose to Penn State.

A UMass win and a Delaware win would give the Minutemen the No. 3 seed. UMass could be third with a loss if Penn State beats Delaware and Hofstra beats Towson.

Otherwise losing Saturday would drop UMass to the fourth seed.

DANELLA TRANSFERRING - New women's basketball coach Sharon Dawley will begin her rebuilding job at UMass without Kristina Danella. The 6-foot-1 sophomore forward from New Jersey has elected to transfer to Marist.

Danella, who was an Atlantic 10 all-rookie selection after the 2008-09 season, averaged 11.6 points and 5.6 rebounds as a sophomore.

She expressed dissatisfaction with UMass in an article published by the Poughkeepsie Journal.

"I really wanted to go to a team that I would be able to play in the postseason," Danella said. "The history of the (Marist) program has been so great over the last decade. (UMass) wasn't dedicated like the Marist girls are."

NCAA PREVIEW? - The UMass women's lacrosse game Saturday at No. 1 Maryland is an odd one for several reasons.

It is the final regular-season game after the Minutewomen (10-8) have already played won the Atlantic 10 conference tournament. It also could be a preview of an NCAA Tournament first-round game.

The top-ranked Terrapins (16-1) won the Atlantic Coast Conference and unless they are upset by UMass, are likely to be one of the top two seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

After winning the A-10 Tournament last weekend, the Minutewomen will travel to face the winner of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament in an NCAA play-in game on May 8.

The winner of that game will play either the first- or second-seeded team in the NCAA Tournament.

This is the second time this season that UMass has faced the nation's top team. The Minutewomen lost 18-6 to then-No. 1 Northwestern in San Diego to start the season Feb. 6. UMass coach Alexis Venechanos is a 2003 alumna of Maryland.

SOFTBALL HOME STAND RESUMES - After Thursday's game against Connecticut was canceled, UMass will play six of its final seven regular-season games against Atlantic 10 foes beginning with Sunday's doubleheader at noon against Dayton at the UMass Softball Complex.

Minutewoman sophomore pitcher Sara Plourde needs 26 strikeouts to break Danielle Henderson's single-season record of 465.

The Flyers are 16-32 (4-10 Atlantic 10).

KEY WEEKEND FOR BASEBALL - The UMass baseball team could have its hands full this weekend with three games (3 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday) against George Washington at Earl Lorden Field.

The Colonials (21-19) are 10-5 in the Atlantic 10 which is good for second place. UMass (10-21) is tied for ninth in conference play at 7-8, but the Minutemen are just a game out of fifth and have won three -consecutive conference series.

A-10 TRACK - UMass will host the Atlantic 10 men's and women's track and field championships Saturday and Sunday. It begins with women's field events on both days at 9 a.m.

SOCCERFEST - The 8th annual Supercuts SoccerFest at UMass is Saturday with 4-on-4 and 6-on-6 tournaments n from 8 a.m. to about 3:30 p.m.

The event, which is run by UMass sport management students, is donating 10 percent of its profits to the Chituka Village Project.

The charity run by former UMass women's coach Kalekeni Banda is collecting money and sports and education equipment for Banda's home village in Malawi, Africa.

Banda will have a tent at Saturday's event and will be collecting soccer balls to send to Chituka Village.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.