ESPN’s Coverage of 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse Championships Begins This Weekend

College Sports (Miscellaneous)

ESPN’s Coverage of 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse Championships Begins This Weekend

  • Anish Shroff Makes Championship Debut As Lead Play-by-Play Commentator
  • Maryland Earns Top Seed in Both Men’s and Women’s Championships; Men’s Team Makes its 15th Consecutive Appearance, Women Earn Top Seed for Fifth Straight Year
  • Former Syracuse standout Ric Beardsley Joins Chris Cotter and Former Teammate Paul Carcaterra in Syracuse for First Round
  • Women’s Championship Coverage Begins With First and Second Round Coverage on ESPN3 from Three Campus Sites

ESPN will provide exclusive coverage of the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship Presented by Northwestern Mutual, beginning with the first round on Saturday, May 13, and Sunday May 14, at noon ET from the top eight campus host sites. Championship play continues with the quarterfinals on Saturday, May 20, from Hempstead, N.Y., and Sunday, May 21, from Newark, Del. Winners will advance to faceoff in the semifinals on Saturday, May 27, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., with the national championship game slated for Monday, May 29. All first-round games will air on ESPNU, with the quarterfinals on ESPN2 and ESPNU. Championship weekend, which includes the semifinals and national championship game during Memorial Day weekend, will air on ESPN2.

ESPN has covered the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship since 2007, and the 2017 season marks the 23nd consecutive year that the network has provided complete coverage of championship weekend.

Coverage Highlights
The top eight seeds will serve as host sites on Saturday, May 13, and Sunday, May 14, for all first round games, airing on ESPNU. Saturday’s matchups include Towson facing No. 7-seed Penn State (noon), Duke facing No. 6 John Hopkins (2:30 p.m.), Air Force versus No. 5 Denver (5 p.m.), and reigning champion North Carolina against No. 8 Albany (7:30 p.m.). Sunday’s games feature BIG EAST Champion Marquette facing No. 4 Notre Dame (noon), winner of Bryant/Monmouth playing top-seeded Maryland (2:30 p.m.), Loyola (Md.) taking on No. 3 Ohio State (5 p.m.), and Yale taking on No. 2 Syracuse (7:30 p.m.).

The 17-team field includes eight conference champions, eight teams who earned an at-large bid, and the winner of a preliminary round game.

Championship weekend coverage will also provide fans with an alternative viewing experience for both the men’s and women’s championship with the use of the SkyCam, available on ESPN3 for the semifinals and championship title games.

Commentators
ESPN’s lead commentators for the Men’s Lacrosse Championship will be play-by-play commentator Anish Shroff and former college lacrosse standouts Quint Kessenich (Johns Hopkins) and Paul Carcaterra (Syracuse). Kessenich and Carcaterra both won national titles with their respective schools. Shroff and Kessenich will be in-studio for Saturday’s matchups, then head to College Park for top-seeded Maryland’s matchup against the winner of Bryant and Monmouth. The trio will call the quarterfinals in Newark, Del., before heading to Foxborough for championship weekend. This will be Shroff’s first championship as the lead play-by-play commentator.

This year’s coverage also includes play-by-play commentators Mike Corey, Jay Alter, Kevin Brown, Chris Cotter, John Brickley and Joe Beninati, and analysts Ryan Boyle, Ryan Flanagan, Sheehan Stanwick-Burch, Matt Ward and former UMBC head coach Don Zimmerman. Former Syracuse standout and four-time All-American Ric Beardsley will also serve as analyst for the Yale-Syracuse matchup, joining Cotter and former teammate Carcaterra in the booth. Beardsley and Carcaterra helped lead the Orange to a national title in 1995.

Cotter and Boyle will provide studio coverage during the quarterfinals, with Ward joining them during championship weekend.

NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship
ESPN will also provide exclusive coverage of the NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship Presented by Northwestern Mutual, with the semifinals (5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.) on Friday, May 26, on ESPN3, followed by the title game on Sunday, May 28, at 11 a.m. on ESPNU. John Brickley, Sheehan Stanwick-Burch, a four-time All-American at Georgetown, and Halley Quillinan, a former Syracuse lacrosse standout, will be on site for all the action at Gillette Stadium.

Coverage of the first and second rounds will also be available on ESPN3. A complete bracket can be found here.

espnW will provide coverage through each round of the championship with features and recaps leading up to the title game.

Fans can also follow all the action on Twitter at @ESPNU and @NCAA_LAX

2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship Schedule (Subject to change)

Date Time (ET) Matchup/Commentators Network
Sat, May 13 Noon First Round (State College, Pa.)
Towson vs. No. 7 Penn State
Mike Corey, Don Zimmerman
ESPNU
  2:30 p.m. First Round (Baltimore, Md.)
Duke vs. No. 6 Johns Hopkins
Jay Alter, Ryan Boyle
ESPNU
  5 p.m. First Round (Denver, Colo.)
Air Force vs. No. 5 Denver
Kevin Brown, Sheehan Stanwick-Burch
ESPNU
  7:30 p.m. First Round (Albany, N.Y.)
North Carolina vs. No. 8 Albany
Chris Cotter, Paul Carcaterra
ESPNU
Sun, May 14 Noon First Round (South Bend, Ind.)
Marquette vs. No. 4 Notre Dame
John Brickley, Matt Ward
ESPNU
  2:30 p.m. First Round (College Park, Md.)
Bryant/Monmouth vs. No. 1 Maryland
Anish Shroff, Quint Kessenich
ESPNU
  5 p.m. First Round (Columbus, Ohio)
Loyola (Md.) vs. No. 3 Ohio State
Joe Beninati, Ryan Flanagan
ESPNU
  7:30 p.m. First Round (Syracuse, N.Y.)
Yale vs. No. 2 Syracuse
Chris Cotter, Paul Carcaterra/Ric Beardsley
ESPNU
Sat, May 20 Noon Quarterfinal #1 (Hempstead, N.Y.)
Mike Corey, Matt Ward
ESPNU
  2:30 p.m. Quarterfinal #2 (Hempstead, N.Y.)
Mike Corey, Matt Ward
ESPNU
Sun, May 21 Noon Quarterfinal #3 (Newark, Del.)
Anish Shroff, Quint Kessenich, Paul Carcaterra
ESPN2
  2:30 pm. Quarterfinal #4 (Newark, Del.)
Anish Shroff, Quint Kessenich, Paul Carcaterra
ESPN2
Sat, May 27 Noon Semifinal #1 (Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.)
Anish Shroff, Quint Kessenich, Paul Carcaterra
ESPN2
  2:30 p.m. Semifinal #2 (Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.)
Anish Shroff, Quint Kessenich, Paul Carcaterra
ESPN2
Mon, May 29 1 p.m. National Championship (Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.)
Anish Shroff, Quint Kessenich, Paul Carcaterra
ESPN2

 

2017 NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship (subject to change)

Date Time (ET) Matchup/Commentators Network
Fri, May 12 4 p.m. First Round (Syracuse, N.Y.)
Boston College vs. Canisius
ESPN3
  First Round (Philadelphia)
Navy vs. No. 7 Penn
ESPN3
  5 p.m. First Round (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Elon vs. Virginia
ESPN3
  7 p.m. First Round (Philadelphia)
UMass vs. Colorado
ESPN3
Sun, May 14 1 p.m. Second Round (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Elon/Virginia vs. No. 2 North Carolina
ESPN3
  Second Round (Philadelphia)
Penn/Navy vs. Colorado/UMass
ESPN3
  3 p.m. Second Round (Syracuse, N.Y.)
Boston College/Canisius vs. No. 6 Syracuse
ESPN3
Fri, May 26 5 p.m. Semifinal #1 (Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.)
John Brickley, Sheehan Stanwick-Burch, Halley Quillinan
ESPN3
7:30 p.m. Semifinal #2 (Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.)
John Brickley, Sheehan Stanwick-Burch, Halley Quillinan
ESPN3
Sun, May 28 11 a.m. National Championship (Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.)
John Brickley, Sheehan Stanwick-Burch, Halley Quillinan
ESPNU

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