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The first round of the 2011 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse championship is in the books, boys and girls.
With the exception of Duke and Delaware putting on a bit of a show, Saturday's first round games featured a bunch of blowouts. Home teams dominated play, even if it took Cornell and Johns Hopkins a little while to generate some breathing room from their opponents.
Sunday was a little more exciting. Bucknell and Virginia played an overtime thriller, with the Cavaliers ramming home the winner just a minute or so into the extra period to pull out a victory at Klockner. Denver and Villanova went toe-to-toe for around 50 minutes before the Pioneers finally put away the Wildcats. Up in the Carrier Dome, Siena kept it tight with the Orange for about a half, relying on goalie Tom Morr to stop everything that was sent his way.
It was a great weekend for the game but things are only going to get better in just about five days when the quarterfinals roar out of the gates.
Speaking of the quarterfinals, the NCAA got around to setting the game times for the second round doubleheaders at Hempstead, New York and Foxborough, Massachusetts.
HEMPSTEAD REGION: Saturday, May 21, 2011
The early game -- 12:00 -- will feature Cornell, the second-seed, going at it with Virginia, the seven-seed. Shuart Stadium should be raring to go with this offensive showcase. The second game of the day -- Johns Hopkins, the three-seed, against sixth-seeded Denver -- with face-off around 2:30. This is the second game of the year for the Pioneers on Long Island, having beaten Duke in Bethpage just about a month ago.
All games will be televised live on ESPN2.
If you're heading to Long Island for the games on Saturday, I suggest the following little ditty from a local to get you in the right "state of mind":
FOXBOROUGH REGION: Sunday, May 22, 2011
The game times for the contests up at Gillette Stadium are the same as the preceding day's at Hofstra -- noon and 2:30. In the opening game at Foxborough, the tournament's top-seed, Syracuse, will tangle with a super dangerous unseeded Maryland squad. This game has "GODZILLA AWESOMENESS" written all over it. Both squads have legitimate championship-caliber teams in 2011.
The second side of the double-dip is a rematch of last year's championship game, pitting fourth-seeded Notre Dame against fifth-seeded Duke. It'll be a contrast of style from the starting whistle with Duke looking to run around with their hair on fire and Notre Dame looking to win this bad boy with defense and discipline.
All of these games will be televised live on ESPNU.
Although it's not geographically accurate, I suggest the following song to get you in the mood for Sunday's quarters: