We were named the #1 seed in the North tonight, guaranteeing us the home field as long as we stay in the tournament. Being seeded lower has never been a problem, it is sometimes easier to focus on the road. However, given that we are entering finals this week and the Semis are on graduation day, the home field is a big bonus for our academic lives!

We will play our first round game on Sunday, May 16 at 1:00pm vs. the winner of the Endicott/Geneseo State game. They are in the "play-in" game on Wednesday to get the tournament from 17 to 16. The rest of the tourney begins on Sunday. Endicott won their conference to gain the AQ as did Geneseo. Geneseo defeated Cortland to win their conference!

If we win, we will play Wednesday, May 19 vs. the winner of the Springfield/Stevens Institute game. Time TBA

If we win, we will play Sunday, May 23 (graduation) late in the afternoon against the winner of the bottom half of the bracket. The bottom half is Nazareth vs. Eastern CT and Cortland vs. Clarkson.

We earned the #1 seed after defeating Wesleyan today 12-7 in the NESCAC Finals. It was a contrast to yesterday's game. Yesterday Amherst was physical, athletic, fairly up-tempo and all aggressive man-to-man. Wesleyan is smaller, quick, nifty with their offense and they play a zone defense. They spread out on offense and have a cutting/feeding offense which does not generate as many shots, but generates high quality shots. Krieger was again very good in the goal, but their style did not allow him to dominate. Our defense played a very solid game all around, with great efforts from our close d, Long Stick Middies Tom O'Connor and Brian Phinney were excellent as well as short stick d middies Mike Murray and Bob Wannop. Murray and Wannop were not only outstanding on defense, as usual they put tons of pressure on Wesleyan by getting Krieger's outlets and pushing the ball up the field.

On the offensive end we had a good, patient day against their zone. We were a little stagnant early, and had a little of the low energy zone offense feel. We adjusted a little in the second quarter and did a much better job of moving the ball, cutting and generating good looks. Mike Saraceni paced the way with 4 goals and 3 assists, an effort worthy of a senior leader in the NESCAC Championship game. It was also nice to see Jon Sisto step in a get a couple of very nice assists against the zone. He has been playing well in practice and despite feeling that our top 4 are playing well, we thought Sisto could make a contribution so we changed our substitution pattern a little going into the playoffs to include Sisto with Saraceni, Howe, Foster and Tobey. They all responded with very solid weekends.

It was a great way to enter the NCAA tournament, winning a couple of completely different games in convincing fashion against very good teams. The energy and confidence were strong and guys were focused. Can't wait until next Sunday, but the guys have to buckle down for some academics in the meantime!

Best,

Erin