No. 2-seeded women's lacrosse earns first-round bye in NCAAs

The women's lacrosse team was hoping for one of the top four seeds and an accompanying first-round bye in the upcoming NCAA tournament.

Princeton was not disappointed.

After every other team to make the tournament had been named, the Tigers leapt out of their seats, knowing that they had landed the No. 2 seed and its accompanying first-round bye. The Tigers will take on the winner of Thursday's contest between Duke and Dartmouth in Durham, N.C.

"We'll have a tough quarterfinal matchup. Possibly the toughest of any of the matchups," head coach Chris Sailer said.

The Tigers did not face Duke this season, but lost to the Blue Devils last year 11-8 on the road. Duke is 10-4 this season and is coming off an 11-8 win over the Big Green April 28.

Dartmouth came back from a late three-goal deficit to beat the Tigers April 22 and claim its third consecutive Ivy League title. The Big Green fell out of its No. 2 late-season ranking with two losses in its last two games and sank all the way to the No. 10 seed.

"I don't know who we'd rather face," senior captain Hilary Maddox said. "We'd love to repay Dartmouth, but we always play well against Duke."

The Tigers were unsure whether they would pick up one of the four byes following losses to Maryland and Dartmouth as well as a mediocre effort in a season-ending win over Brown.

"[Sailer] told us that we had to be ready to play a first-round game," Maddox said. "But we're looking forward to this second-round matchup here at home."

The semifinals and finals of the tournament will be held at the College of New Jersey, May 19-21.