NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament First Round Preview

The race for the NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse championship remains as wide-open as it seemed at the outset of the season. It’s a three-week sprint now to Memorial Day.

Here’s a look at the eight first-round matchups this weekend.

All times Eastern. All games on ESPNU. Game lines via DraftKings.

UAlbany (11-5) at (3) North Carolina (12-4)     
Saturday 12 p.m.     
North Carolina -6.5 O/U 22.5

How They Got Here   
UAlbany with its third straight America East championship and 14th conference title in program history; North Carolina with a 12-4 mark against the No. 1 strength of schedule in the country that included victories over five other teams in the tournament.

Series History   
They’ve met just once before, in the 2017 NCAA tournament. Led by TD Ierlan and Connor Fields, UAlbany was the seeded host that year. The Great Danes raced to a 14-3 lead and withstood a furious second-half comeback by the Tar Heels — who were defending NCAA champions at the time — to prevail 15-12 in a game also remembered for the torrents of rain accompanying it.

Matchup to Watch   
Austin Oppenheim vs. Brady Wambach. Carolina is unstoppable when Wambach is in make-it, take-it mode. The Tar Heels become more vulnerable when he gets jammed up and hovers nearer 50 percent. That’s Oppenheim’s M.O. He held his own against another All-American faceoff specialist, Walter Zhao, in the America East championship game. He’s got his hands full Saturday with arguable the best faceoff man in the college game since Ierlan.

— Matt DaSilva

Army (13-3) at (8) Penn State (9-5)    
Saturday 2:30 p.m.    
Penn State -2.5 O/U 21.5

How They Got Here   
The surest way possible: by winning their conference tournaments. Army took the guesswork out of the selection committee’s hands with convincing wins over Lehigh and Loyola to capture its 14th Patriot League championship. The Black Knights hardly looked like a sure thing in mid-March with consecutive setbacks at Lafayette, Boston University and North Carolina. They’ve since reeled off seven straight wins. Penn State had a weird season. The Nittany Lions blew out Princeton, Cornell and Ohio State but got tripped up against Villanova and Navy. But they were humming come Big Ten tournament time, eking past Maryland in the semifinals and then avenging their regular-season loss to Johns Hopkins with an emphatic 16-8 victory in the conference final.

Series History   
Army is 29-3 all-time against Penn State dating back to 1922, but they’ve only met once this millennium — in the 2023 NCAA quarterfinals. A last-second goal that would have sent the game to overtime was disallowed and Penn State held on to win 10-9 to advance to championship weekend.

Storyline to Watch   
How Penn State deploys defenseman Alex Ross and d-middie Jon King. They’ve been the lynchpins of a Nittany Lions defense that’s quietly top-10 in the country. Will they pole Evan Plunkett or let King guard him on an island? And which of Army attackmen Hill Plunkett, Gunnar Fellows and Brayden Fountain gets the Ross treatment? Probably Plunkett.

— Matt DaSilva

Johns Hopkins (9-5) at (7) Cornell (11-4)   
Saturday 5 p.m.   
Cornell -2.5 O/U 22.5

How They Got Here   
Hopkins’ signature wins came against Virginia, Penn State and archrival Maryland. The Blue Jays were outclassed by the Nittany Lions, however, when they met again in the Big Ten championship game. Similarly, defending NCAA champion Cornell could not replicate its regular-season success against Princeton. The Big Red gave up nine third-quarter goals in a 19-9 defeat.

Series History   
Remarkably, these historically prominent college lacrosse programs have not crossed paths since 1987, when the Blue Jays defeated the Big Red 11-10 in the NCAA championship game. Quint Kessenich, now an ESPN analyst, made 21 saves as the starting goalie for Hopkins in a star-studded final that also featured Hall of Fame defenseman Dave Pietramala (Hopkins) and Hall of Fame attackman Tim Goldstein (Cornell). The series itself dates to 1894. The Blue Jays are 16-4-1 all-time against the Big Red.

Storyline to Watch   
While it’s been nearly 40 years since they played each other, Hopkins and Cornell share plenty of recent history. Blue Jays head coach Peter Milliman was the head coach at Cornell for three seasons before taking the Hopkins job after the school moved on from Pietramala in 2020. Milliman’s top lieutenant, Connor Buczek, took over as interim head coach at Cornell, shed the tag and led the Big Red to their first NCAA championship in 48 years last May. Speaking of Petro, he was an assistant at Cornell before making his return to Homewood Field in 2001 and leading the Blue Jays to NCAA titles in 2005 and 2007. And lastly, Hopkins athletic director Jen Baker —profiled as one of our Powerhouse Women of the sport earlier this spring — also came from Cornell.

— Matt DaSilva

Duke (9-4) at (4) Richmond (14-1) 
Saturday 7:30 p.m. 
Richmond -1.5 O/U 23.5

How They Got Here 
Barely, in the case of Duke. The Blue Devils were one of the last teams in the field, and had it not been for a thorough beating of North Carolina to finish the regular season, Duke would be at home right now. Richmond, one of the darlings of the 2026 season, won the Atlantic 10 championship but would have been in the tournament even if it didn’t. The Spiders spent time at No. 1 this season and have beaten the likes of Georgetown, Cornell and Virginia this season. 

Series History 
Duke is 9-1 against Richmond, winning each of the last nine games after a 12-10 loss in the inaugural meeting in 2016. Last year’s win, a 13-12 double-overtime classic on March 15, will surely be on the minds of the Spiders. 

Storyline to Watch 
Duke's layoff. The Blue Devils have not played a game since that 16-12 win over North Carolina on April 25. Even with that win, they didn’t qualify for the ACC tournament. While some teams have played two or even three games since then, Duke has focused solely on practicing. Will there be rust?

— Kenny DeJohn

Jacksonville (11-5) at (2) Notre Dame (10-2) 
Sunday 12 p.m. 
Notre Dame -5.5 O/U 21.5

How They Got Here
Jacksonville’s long quest towards an NCAA bid finally came to fruition when the Dolphins breezed through the Atlantic Sun tournament. They didn’t rest on their laurels, snapping Robert Morris’ 13-game winning streak in a 13-7 victory in the opening round on Wednesday. Notre Dame has one of the nation’s best defenses, led by Tewaaraton finalist Shawn Lyght, and spent much of the season as the nation’s No. 1 ranked team. Notre Dame has suffered just two losses all season – both at the hands of Virginia. 

Series History
This is just the second meeting between the two schools. Notre Dame opened its 2014 season with a 19-7 victory over the Dolphins in Florida. The Irish, led by Matt Kavanagh, reached the NCAA championship game that season.  

Player to Watch
Ryan Della Rocco. The Jacksonville goalie has experience (48 career starts) and will be a tough foe for a Notre Dame offense that has been challenged at times this season. Della Rocco leads the country with a 7.25 goals against average and is third with a 59.3 save percentage. Notre Dame, which has played just 12 games, has no players with 40 points (Air Force transfer Josh Yago leads the Irish with 38 points) and its 12.8 goals per game ranks 12th among the 18 teams that made the NCAA tournament. 

— Brian Logue

Marist (12-4) at (1) Princeton (13-2) 
Sunday 2:30 p.m. 
Princeton -10.5 O/U 23.5

How They Got Here
Marist avenged a regular season loss to Siena, beating the Saints 12-8 in the MAAC championship game and then avenged a regular season loss to Stony Brook, knocking off the Seawolves 10-6 in an NCAA opening round game on Wednesday. Aside from an ugly first quarter in its season-opening loss to Penn State, Princeton has been the most consistent team in the country, earning the No. 1 seed. 

Series History
Princeton and Marist have met just twice before — Princeton wins in 2017 and 2022. 

Storyline to Watch
Princeton’s offensive depth. Nate Kabiri was named a Tewaaraton finalist earlier this week and he leads the Tigers with 68 points. He’s far from the only Princeton weapon. The Tigers have seven players with at least 15 goals. The explosive offense will be a tough test for an improving Marist defense that has allowed just 22 goals in its last three victories.

— Brian Logue

Yale (9-5) at (6) Syracuse (11-5) 
Sunday 5 p.m. 
Syracuse -3.5 O/U 24.5

How They Got Here
Yale was 3-4 and 0-2 in the Ivy League heading into the last weekend of March. The Bulldogs responded by upsetting reigning national champion Cornell and later added a big win over rival Harvard during a six-game winning streak that got them into the Ivy League tournament. Yale gave Princeton a battle before losing 12-10 in the Ivy League semifinals, but the cards fell their way for them to earn one of the final at-large bids. Syracuse started 3-0, including their first win over Maryland since 2011, but the Orange have struggled away from the Dome, going 4-4 in road games and 0-1 in neutral site games. This one is at home. 

Series History
Syracuse leads the all-time series 20-4, but the two teams haven’t played since 2017 and only three times since 2000. Syracuse has won the last 11 in the series, with the Bulldogs' last win coming in 1963. 

Storyline to Watch
Youth vs. experience. Yale is playing with house money and Syracuse has the weight of a senior class trying to prove its legacy on its shoulders. Will that play a factor in how the game is played? Four of Yale’s top five scorers are freshmen or sophomores — led by sophomore Connor Gately (25g, 29a) and first-year Sean Grogan (28g, 19a) — and star goalie Ben Friedman (56.2 save pct) is just a sophomore. Syracuse is the polar opposite. Its top four scorers, led by Tewaaraton finalist Joey Spallina, are all seniors, as are starting defenders Jordan Beck, Billy Dwan and Riley Figueiras and goalie Jimmy McCool. The Orange reached the final four last year for the first time since 2013, but this senior class wants to hang a banner — something Syracuse hasn’t done since 2009.

— Brian Logue

Georgetown (10-4) at (5) Virginia (10-6) 
Sunday 7:30 p.m. 
Virginia -2.5 O/U 24.5

How They Got Here
Can we take a moment to appreciate the Hoyas' run on Big East championships? They've won eight straight tournament titles, an NCAA Division I men's lacrosse record, in a conference that features a former national champion in Denver, perennial spoilers Villanova and Marquette and an up-and-coming program in Providence — the team Georgetown defeated 14-6 in the last week's final. Its reward? A first-round date at red-hot Virginia, which righted the ship after a 3-4 start to capture the ACC championship with convincing wins over Notre Dame and North Carolina. 

Series History
Virginia is 5-0 all-time against Georgetown, twice denying the Hoyas their long-sought return to the final four with NCAA quarterfinal victories in 2021 and 2023. It was Kevin Warne, the colorful Georgetown coach, who dubbed UVA's tall, rangy defensemen "velociraptors" on the Cavaliers' path to their last national championship in 2021.

Storyline to Watch
The Connor brothers vs. the Millon brothers. Both teams' offenses rely upon fraternal bonds. Colgate transfers Rory Connor (50g, 13a) and Liam Connor (21g, 51a) account for 44 percent of Georgetown's offensive production. Virginia might have more weapons, but McCabe Millon (30g, 44a) and Brendan Millon (33g, 41a) represent a 39-percent share of the offense. All four were named USA Lacrosse All-Americans this week.

— Matt DaSilva