Published: 5/8/2023 8:00:35 AM
Modified: 5/8/2023 8:00:25 AM
A second consecutive Atlantic 10 Championship game loss in a row didn’t bar the UMass women’s lacrosse team from the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year.
Richmond defeated the Minutewomen 20-12 on Sunday afternoon to earn the league’s automatic bid. UMass (16-2) received its second straight at-large bid and will face John’s Hopkins at 2 p.m. Friday at Syracuse. The winner of that will draw the host and No.2 seed Orange on Sunday, May 14.
The Minutewomen found out sitting in the terminal at Washington Dulles International Airport and broke into cheers and tears when UMass popped into the bracket.
John’s Hopkins (8-8) also earned an at large bid after falling against Rutgers on the Big 10 quarterfinals. The Blue Jays played half their schedule against ranked teams and took down No. 25 Rutgers, No. 13 Michigan and No. 14 Penn State in the month of April.
John’s Hopkins has played in the last five NCAA tournaments. The Blue Jays have never faced the Minutewomen, who are playing in their third consecutive tourney.
UMass has lost its last two NCAA games since reaching the 2017 second round. The Minutewomen reached the 2016 Elite 8.