Men's lax seeks to regain momentum in Hanover

An Ivy title was at stake, the national championship picture was up in the air and two potent teams were coming to town.

While last weekend's men's lacrosse action at 1952 Stadium featured three of the top 10 teams in the nation battling for Ivy and national bragging rights, tomorrow's game at Dartmouth (5-7 overall, 0-4 Ivy League) is decidedly less interesting.

The Big Green has finished in the bottom half of the Ivy standings for the past several seasons, and is once again struggling this year. Earlier in the season, six of the seven Ivy lacrosse teams received votes in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association coaches' poll — Dartmouth was the one that did not.

With the win over Cornell last Saturday, Princeton (8-2, 5-0) solidified at least a tie for the Ivy title and earned the league's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. Still, strong showings in their last two games are important for the Tigers' chances of receiving a high seed in the 12-team tournament.

Supreme Court

The 2000 season marks the first time that the NCAA tournament has featured automatic berths — a controversial decision given the number of high-caliber teams that cannot receive an automatic bid either because of conference affiliation or a lack thereof.

For a conference to merit an automatic bid, it must have at least six members and meet certain specifications in terms of record and strength of schedule.

This season, there will be five automatic qualifiers. The regular season champions of the Ivy League (Princeton), Eastern College Athletic Conference (Georgetown) and Patriot League (Hobart) have all been decided. The winner of the America East conference tournament will also advance to the NCAAs along with the top team from the Great Western Lacrosse League — Notre Dame.

This leaves seven spots available for independents and teams from conferences that do not meet NCAA requirements. Unlike most sports, however — in which teams from smaller conferences tend not to be competitive — in men's lacrosse these teams have ruled the sport.

Deja vu

With the exception of Princeton and Cornell, every national championship has gone to a so-called "independent." This trend could likely continue this year.

The top three teams in the nation — No.1 Virginia, No. 2 Syracuse, and No. 3 Loyola — will all receive at-large bids since they cannot qualify for an automatic berth.

Barring major upsets over the next two weekends, Syracuse (10-1) and Virginia (10-1) will receive the top two seeds in the NCAA tournament. Should Loyola (9-1) knock off No. 6 Johns Hopkins May 6, the Greyhounds will solidify the number three seed.

The battle for the fourth seed — and the first round bye that comes with it — will be intense. A strong performance by No. 5 Princeton against Dartmouth and No. 12 Hobart in its last two games would give the Tigers the inside track. Current No. 4 Georgetown (10-1) has played a weaker schedule than Princeton and faces Syracuse in its season finale. If the Hoyas play competitively against the Orange-men — unlike the Tigers did, losing 16-4 last Sunday — they could make a case to be seeded above Princeton.

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The NCAA selection committee will announce the tournament bracket May 7. Last year, despite finishing the season 9-3 and playing one of the toughest schedules in the country, Princeton was not given one of the eight seeds in the tournament. While the Tigers' only losses this year are to the top two teams in the country, they must have strong performances in the twilight of the season — starting with Dartmouth tomorrow — to ensure a favorable seed in the tournament.