May 4, 2014
NCAA Bracket: Interactive | PDF
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The seventh-ranked Penn State women's lacrosse team will continue its season in the NCAA tournament after the squad received an at-large bid into the 26-team field, the organization announced Sunday night during its selection show.
The Nittany Lions, who will compete in their 20th NCAA tournament, qualified for the national championships in three straight seasons for the first time since 1995-97. Penn State is coming off back-to-back NCAA quarterfinal appearances and will face Princeton in first-round action Friday, May 9. The winner of the Penn State-Princeton matchup will face sixth-seeded Virginia in the second round Sunday, May 11. The Cavaliers will serve as hosts for the first and second rounds.
Penn State will enter the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championships at 10-7 overall after falling to Johns Hopkins in the first round of the ALC tournament. The Nittany Lions - one of five teams from the American Lacrosse Conference to make the field - have won at least 10 games in each of the past five seasons.
Sophomore midfielder Madison Cyr (Westminster, Md.) paces the nation's 15th-ranked offense with a team-leading 39 goals and 46 points. The All-ALC First Team honoree boasts a 14-game point-scoring streak (35g, 7a) and has set career highs in points (5), goals (5), draw controls (5) and caused turnovers (4).
In addition to the sophomore standout, senior attacker Mackenzie Cyr (Westminster, Md.) and All-ALC Second Team member Maggie McCormick (Eldersburg, Md.) entered the ALC tournament ranked fourth in the conference with a team-high 24 assists. Cyr will enter the NCAA tournament just one point shy of 200 for her career, while McCormick needs a pair of markers to reach the century mark.
ALC Defensive Player of the Year Lauren Purvis (Maple Glen, Pa.), who led the conference in caused turnovers per game during the regular season, anchors the Nittany Lion defense. The senior has collected 29 caused turnovers, 27 ground balls and seven caused draw controls. Sophomore midfielder Jenna Mosketti (Fallston, Md.), who earned All-ALC Second Team honors, has collected a team-high 68 draw controls.
The Nittany Lions have played both Princeton and sixth-seeded Virginia during the 2014 season. Penn State defeated Princeton, 13-12, April 26 and fell to the Cavaliers, 12-11, in Charlottesville March 1.